


I Have Dreamt of the End

by NerdyAJ, writer_in_wonderland



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: 5K Plus Chapters, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationships, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Post - Mortis, Post - Season 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-05 15:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1823953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyAJ/pseuds/NerdyAJ, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writer_in_wonderland/pseuds/writer_in_wonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During their time on Morits, Anakin did more than just bring Ahsoka back; he breathed the very essence of life into her.  “The force of life never dies, it merely changes form. . .”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Episode 00

**Author's Note:**

  * For [writer_in_wonderland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writer_in_wonderland/gifts).



> The Son does not die on Mortis and Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka manage to escape with the help of the Father. . . AU after Mortis. Post Season 5.

_The Citadel_

“Master Plo, he just doesn't understand, Master Skywalker is just too blind to see that it is my life to risk, not his. I really want to help Master Piell get out, but he doesn't want me to go, what do you think Master?” Master Plo sees the youngling’s eyes turn round and doe like, honestly needing his opinion.

Master Plo sighs and looks down at Ashoka with fond exasperation. “Youngling, I am sure that the correct decision will make itself clear soon enough.”

Ashoka smiles and hugs Master Plo running off to her fighter and getting her gear. He watches her sneak around to the other side of the carbon freezer and pay off the operator so that he would carbon freeze her as well. He watches her jump into the carbon freezing tube and he watches as all the other Jedi’s assigned to the mission jump into one as well.

* * *

Anakin feels Ashoka’s arm brushing up against his. Her body heat is sinking into his side and he feels her tense form up against him.

“Snips, you mind some space?” He looks at her curiously and she seems clueless until she notices how close his face is. Her lekku flush vibrantly and she turns away to hide her embarrassment, quickly scooting back a few spaces. Then like a magnet to metal she feels this physical pull to him, and although she has the strength to deny the pull, she almost doesn't want to.

A droid suddenly appears and before Anakin can even blink, Ashoka slices through it’s midsection with a well aimed strike. She looks back at her master for some sort of praise. He is surprised at her accuracy and focus. Instead of going into a speech of praise he simply smirks and puts hand on his hip.

“Good job, Snips, never knew you had it in you.” Her smile disappears and she instead settles for a half-hearted glare.

* * *

She sees the trackers appear on the top of the slope. They snarl and rush down at herself and Master Piell. They try to fight, but they can only hold off so many at a time. Many run past Ahsoka and rush towards Master Piell. She can hear his screams of terror and pain and his painful injuries fuel her as she slays tracker after tracker.

When no more seem to come, she quickly runs over to Master Piell and holds his limp form in her lap. He tries to speak and finally gets out the last part of the code for the secret travel route that would lead them straight to the heart of separatist territory.

She runs back to Anakin needing his presence beside her. She craves it like air and this deep ache fills her until she reaches his side, collapsing beside him and gasping for air.

“Snips!” he shouts, running and sliding down on his knees to her petite form. He picks her up, checking her over. She had carried Master Piell and they see his limp silhouette on the ground. She sees all of their gazes and begins to sob out muttered apologizes.

“I’m sorry Master. I couldn’t save him, I tried so hard. There were too many and they came so fast and I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

He grabs her face and cupped her cheek. “Snips,” he commands with a slightly stern tone, “look at me.” he gets out and finally her round blue eyes glance upward, staring up at him with almost complete obedience and implicit trust. “It was _not_ your fault.” He was so stern and commanding that Ashoka almost wants to believe him, but Master Piell’s body seems to convince her otherwise. The tears begin to reform and Anakin just holds her close.

“Snips, lets go, lets get out of here.”

* * *

_Padawan Lost_

She feels this overwhelming sensation of _something_. It flows through her bones and wakes her with a gasp for air.

“Master,” is the only words her mind can muster up. Nothing else matters but him at the moment and her body jumps to attention before remembering where it is. The call of wildlife is what brings her out of her daze and she remembers that she has been kidnapped to be hunted for sport.

The Trandoshan hunters are cruel and ruthless killers. This overwhelming desire to get everyone out of here consumes her but that hope flickers and dies when Kalifa, the leader of their group, gets shot down when out scouting the area. Ashoka feels this deep ache when she dies like it was part of her that had died along with this brave little youngling, forced to early to have all these responsibilities thrust upon her.

In the battle field men are left to rot where they are shot, but Ashoka can’t leave Kalifa to be hacked up like an animal and her head to be mounted on a wall. She lays her in the groove of a tree, well hidden by vines. Her body will go back into the circle of life, the death wish of any true Jedi.

And that is her first mistake. Now running from this crazy Trandoshan hunter she puts all of her Jedi training to good use. She can almost hear the shots of the rifle turn into the sounds of a swinging lightsaber as her Master and herself practiced avoidance maneuvers.

She hears the short, out of breath tone her master used when she became too good at the game and even hears a whispered _“Duck, Snips”_ as a blaster fire sails over her crouched form and blasts into a tree trunk.

She runs and runs and finally by accident she pushes the hunter onto spikes in the forest floor. They pierce him and he dies. She looks down at his form and knows it was always going to end like this. One of them was going to die, and without a doubt in her mind, she knows she is going to see her master again.

It is surprisingly a wookie that helps her escape the planet. He builds a transmitter out of some scrap metal from the transporter she helped crash. She held herself high after that, becoming the leader of the mission.

Chewbacca’s people finally find them and help them take down the Trandoshan hunting base and Ashoka feels it deep in her bones, the primal satisfaction of pleasing her Master. His face when they finally touched down at the Jedi Temple is better than anything she has ever seen.

The whole tragedy of the ordeal seems to melt out of her as he touches her. She physically sags and Anakin begins to support her weight expertly, starting to lead her to a medical bay to be checked out by a droid.

Yoda watches with a puzzled face. He can practically see the aura of the young padawan pulsing off waves of powerful force energy. In fact she seems to be filled with it. She has never been near that strong before. The master watches them and vows to himself to keep a close eye.

* * *

_Water War_

No one could have predicted that it would turn out like this. Ashoka pushes herself through the wave of droids, slaying them with simple brutality. Unfortunately, the wave starts to turn in favor of the separatists.

Anakin finds her in the middle of the battle and hands her Prince Lee Char. He orders her to go with him and and to hide him deep in the caves underground.

Ashoka watches as this timid leader commands her with the partial confidence of the commander and the timidity of a child. The natural rebellion inside of her, neither wants nor needs this prince to command her, but she somehow knows that this is supposed to happen.

She allows him to make all the calls as she simply rallies the troops. No one can really see what this prince is bound to do. Ahsoka is having to organize this whole thing with Anakin gone.

As she spends more time with him, she watches as he shapes himself into the king he is meant to be, and it even gets to the point where no one is surprised when the battle finally turns in favor of the Republic. And soon, the battle is over.

Everyone rejoices as Prince Lee Char is elected into office. He becomes king of the Mancala people and Anakin looks at Ahsoka at the end, smiling and clapping just as loud as the rest of those around them.

* * *

_A War on Two Fronts_

_“Remember, Snips, remain focused. Intention comes before emotions.”_

Ahsoka tries to remember this as she watches Lux grow closer and closer to this rebel leader, Steela. She hasn't realized it yet, how close she had been to Lux; how close she had wanted to be. She silently ponders. It wasn't really like Lux had been hers at anytime. She had no right to be jealous of any of the women he truly wanted, but despite all the evidence, she was.

The solitary life of a Jedi leaves much to be desired. She has never received attention from a man, much less ever had to chance to be in a relationship with one. When she and Lux had to play pretend and be in a relationship, it must have affected her more than she thought.

They fight these droids, and really it is the first mission that Ahsoka has no master to turn to. Of course she and Anakin still have communications by hologram every night, but it is different. In battle with her master, she could turn to him for praise and to anchor her when the adrenaline of battle would overwhelm her senses.

She can feel it as she rides the tank to the power station, this undeniable _something_ that is now flowing through her veins. And as the fighting starts she feels the rush of adrenaline threaten to drown her in its power. She pushes her instincts back and focuses on cutting down one droid at a time, until she can hear the roar of battle around her again. As the fighting comes to a close, she leans against a building feeling drained and exhausted.

Her little band of rebels is too busy celebrating their victory to notice her. She doesn't want them to. The shaking in her hands tells her something is wrong, and she takes breath after breath to calm them.

But they don’t stop. She cannot find her control.

She must find somewhere to mediate soon, to calm the churning, thrashing force within her. The fear rises that she could seriously injure someone. She rushes away from the group as shame overcomes her. Her master finally entrusts her with a simple mission--train the rebels--and she loses control on their first major take over. She is a shame to the Jedi name.

Tears roll down her face as she finally finds a quiet spot on a rooftop to meditate. No one can find her here; there is no one she can injure. She can finally put her mind at ease. Her force reaches out trying to find another nearby, but no one is there. The feeling of isolation seeps into her bones.

_Their fingers were inches away._

If she concentrates hard enough, she can even imagine that they brushed against each other. The roaring pain split through her shoulder like the venom of the predators that inhabit her home planet. Her concentration broke for a fraction of a second and that was all it took for her to fall. It took Ahsoka mere moments to recover enough to remember that she had been about to save someone.

She viewed Steela’s motionless corpse over the edge of the rock face and that scream haunted her as she looked upon the body. Her whole body seemed to sag and her eyes brimmed with tears. There was a deep pain in her chest, like she couldn't breathe. She felt the dirt beneath her palms turn to dry, parched earth. The small grass shoots turned dead and dry. It seemed as if parts of Onderon around her had died with Steela Gerrera.

* * *

Master Obi-Wan watches carefully at Steela’s funeral. Anakin is distracted, his padawan's physical injury concerning him more than anything. Ahsoka is by no measure a delicate thing that needs to be protected, but she has yet to become accustomed to death. Her eyes tell the master everything he needs to know. She thinks of this young girl’s death as her fault.

Then, as she looks upon Lux the master knows. Her feelings run deeper than friendship, but she will never act on it. Then, as she apologizes to the fallen rebel’s brother, he sees it again. She thinks she has taken three lives: the life this brother could have had with his sister, the life of two would-be lovers, and a person who should still be breathing and living for her planet.

He is broken out of his observations as Anakin nudges his shoulder. “Does Ahsoka seems any different to you?” Obi-Wan looks closer and he seems to feel the aura of grief and pain around her. No one should be able to project emotions that powerfully. He simply chalks it up to the passing of recent events.

“Just watch her, Anakin. I am a little worried about her.”

Anakin looks at his old master, puzzled, but nods his head obediently.

* * *

_Sabotage_

_It's not possible for someone to bomb the Jedi temple, how can they?_ Ahsoka is thinking as they go through the wreckage of the attack. She can feel the screams and the cries of death. The last breath of everyone is forced upon her at once and she almost stumbles back.

There are tears pricking at the back of her eyes and the screams only get louder and louder. She tries to ignore them but they continue on rattling and moaning in her head. She wants to scream and cry out but everything is locked in her throat with no escape, and no turning back. Someone shakes her and it is then that she notices she is curled on the floor, sobbing.

She touches the wetness on her cheeks and her brain almost can’t make the connection for a minute that they're here. Everything in her being is concentrated on those innocent victims. Her master’s touch makes it easier to stifle the tears.

“I-I-I’m sor-sorry M-M-Master,” she finally gets out around trying to get air into her rapidly expanding and contracting lungs. Anakin is looking at her like she is a mental patient but the concern in his wide eyes is extremely touching. He picks her up in a maiden carry and she nestles her head against his chest. Her hollow montrals can pick up the steady beating of his heart and it easily calms her rapidly approaching panic attack.

* * *

She wakes up, having not meant to fall asleep. Her eyes blink open and she comes face to face with the sleeping visage of Anakin Skywalker. Her hands are curled, or more like locked, into his robes. His hands are wrapped around her, pulling her in close. She can smell his scent and it smells so. . .enticing.

Leaning in closer, she hears his quick intake of breath just before his eyes open. Stunning deep blue meets electrifying ocean blue. They both retract their hands at once and Ahsoka has to focus and allow the muscles of her hands to unclench from his robes as they both look away at the same time. Her master is obviously the first one to speak.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, Snips.” He sounds immensely concerned and it unnerves her. Time to turn it to banter, something she knows how to control.

“Looks like you just wanted to nap, master.” She smiles playfully.

His eyes show thankfulness and he smirks in reply. “Snips, your hands were fisted so tight in my robes I was afraid if I tried to extract your fingers they would rip and you know the lecture I would get from Obi Wan and Windu. I would never hear the end of it.” He smiles back.

She giggles and they lay there, simply looking at each other, coexisting, coinciding, concurring.

* * *

_The Jedi Who Knew too Much_

“It wasn't me!”

Ahsoka runs down the halls, dodging clone troopers left and right. She would have never strangled Letta. The padawan girl can't help but be scared, however, she will find the culprit. But here, no one will listen to her here. She is a criminal and this whole setup is just making her look more and more guilty by the second.

She runs down the halls and finally takes to the ceilings to dodge what she thought to be her loyal friends. She knows they are just following orders and that’s what good clones do, but still. . . it hurts. She keeps looking around, trying desperately to find her master. She continually reaches out for his force presence, seeing if he is near enough to help her.

He is nowhere to be found and she begins to panic, feeling the tears start to prick at the back of her eyes. She finally makes it out in front of the prison and takes off. Flipping to the top of the clone statues that line the prison she has been kept in. She maps the clone search parties distributed around the prison. She doesn't see one of them though, but hears them shout her position. Again she takes off into the now pounding rain, desperately trying to reach her master.

Finally, she feels his presence. It almost makes her stumble as she feels it forcefully tugging at hers, pleading with her to go back. She knows she can’t go back, but pulls his presence closer, needing him for what she is about to do.

Unexpectedly, they corner her on the pipes that lead to give the temple everything that it needs. She knows that she cannot take all of them, even with all the training she has had. The lights are on her and someone is shouting something through a loudspeaker. She knows he is looking at her and she turns to him, meeting his eyes with the kind of wild desperation that is found in the animals that haunt the grasslands of her native planet. She finally sees the way out is not up, but down. She sticks her lightsaber through the piping and sees that it is not simply a pipe, but a line to the sewer. She takes off into the sewer and feels some sense of security at the multiple levels of mazes that twists and turns provide. She easily evades most of the clones, although her master is a different story. She knows that he is attuned to her presence and that he will easily find her if she does not move quickly and efficiently.

She moves her way through the sewers, though not as quickly as she would have liked, but eventually gets her way to the out-pour of the sewer and doesn't like the outcome. It is a straight drop to the bottom level of Coruscant. None of the transports are in her jumping range and the panic is rising. She can hear all of the clones steadily getting closer and then she can feel Anakin’s presence at her back.

She turns to him and the look in his eye is equal to the look of a young boy and that is when she really realizes how young her master really is. He is only five years older than her, but she respects him as if he is as old and wise as Master Yoda. But now, she knows that his training can go no farther.

“Snips what are you doing?” her master asks desperately. “You need to come back.”

“I’m sorry master, I can’t. Someone has set me up and no one is listening.”

“Snips, I believe you, but you've got to come back.” Anakin looks like he is two seconds away from rushing to restrain her, but Ahsoka knows she must escape now. She turns away and breaks eye contact with her master. “Ahsoka I am ordering you back as your master.” Anakin’s voice takes on a commanding tone and nothing else matters but her need to escape now.

“I’m sorry, master, but I need to prove my own innocence.” His look softens and he seems to understand. The clones then see them and as they pull up behind her master she flips onto a transport that has finally come near enough. She lets gravity take her and relaxes into the fall. Her feet make contact with the transport and she looks back up at her master. Their eyes meet and she knows that he will buy her as much time as possible, but he can only give her so long.

* * *

_The Wrong Jedi_

_Betrayal! All of them! They all betrayed you!_ is the thought that runs through Ahsoka’s head as she walks away from the only home she has ever known. It is blaring like it's the only words she has ever thought. She has disappointed her master, her Anakin, her friend, the only person that had believed her. That is what cut her the most, he had believed in her to not leave him, but to come back to him.

Everyone seems to look at her as she walks past, they all were there during the trial, they all see her as an oppressed hero who fought until the end. Their faces seem to darken as they look upon her, as if they feel every inch of her pain, all the anger, rage, sadness, hurt, guilt, and most importantly the utter and complete betrayal.

“Ahsoka! Ahsoka I need to talk to you!” She stops, the reflex and feeling in her gut easier to obey. She talks to him and she knows his pain, the pain of being kept from the ones you love. She knows all this pain, the inklings of doubt beginning to filter into everyone’s mind.

“I understand what it’s like wanting to leave the order,” he whispers to her sullenly.

“I know, Anakin.” She fashions her padawan braid around his wrist and ties it with a crude knot. She walks off, one tear coming down for all the ones she will lose, forget, despise and cherish the memory of for the rest of her life.

As she boards a transport at the bottom of the temple to take her to the lower levels, she sees a cloud seem to pass over the temple making it dark. It gives Ahsoka a little niggling sense of satisfaction, but more than anything she hurts, hurts all over, not like the pain of battle, but the pain of emotions that she has allowed to wreak havoc all over her decisions. That will change. . . hopefully.

* * *

_Mortis _

The slick sound of a blade through flesh is like music to a dark one’s ears, it should bring smiles and laughs of utter lunacy, bring joy to cause screams of fear, pain and loss. The Son feels none of that as he sees the light die from his father’s eyes. They have been fighting and finally he think his father has surrendered. The light has finally died and he sends his father to join his beloved sister, putting him in the grave beside her, letting the rock slide into place, letting eternal peace wash over the two of them, for they deserve it. But he can still feel sister’s light presence out there somewhere and it angers him, feeling but never touching, never seeing.

He sits in his temple, feeling out into the universe, searching for her. He gets brief images of white and blue striped lekku and he almost laughs at the irony. She is where his sister had gone. That small and spirited visitor, she is his new “sister?” He guesses that somehow it fits--she possess the fire and spirit that his sister had lacked, something he always wished she had. Now he knows she can truly match him in every way.

He chuckles, turning into full roaring laughter.

“This is going to be good,” his quiet, yet jovial voice says to his deserted planet at large. “I am going to have a lot of fun with this one.”

He hums as he walks, the planet steadily falling apart around him. He keeps humming a little tune as the door to Mortis gapes open. The planet begins to disappear around him, leaving black nothingness in its place. He views it with a morbid sort of beauty, his home world will die so he can bring something new. Even Mortis abides by the law of the universe: for the new to flower and flourish, the old must wither and die.

His humming stops abruptly and he feels this deep sense of peace as the black nothingness claws nearer and nearer, snarling and threatening to envelop him, eat him up, make sure that the universe will cease to know that he ever existed, and that, presents a problem, because he has to find his family, sister, and the chosen one, and reunite across the stars again. He looks down at the blackness and then turns back to the door of Mortis, looking out into space.

“And here we go.” The blackness takes over.


	2. Episode 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, just a couple of things. First, this story is in the layout of the show, meaning that there is a part of the story that will take three "episodes," a few political episodes, followed by another piece of the story. Second, it will take a small amount of time for Ahsoka to appear. We have her in later chapters, and she is in fact a main character, she simply appears a little later. Fourth, this takes place through and after season six, so Anakin will be a little OCC due to Ahsoka's leaving. And fifth, if you find any mistakes please tell us. This story is unbeta-ed. That's it! Enjoy!

Obi-Wan waits patiently for his old Padawan on the platform. Hands folded behind his back, he hears the gentle roar of engines in the distance and looks to see Anakin's fleet entering the atmosphere.

His blue eyes fix on the head gunship, painted with a thick slab of red paint to signify it as the leader. They fly towards Obi-Wan's position at the landing dock and he watches them all land, one by one, the crew spilling out, congratulating each other on a battle well fought.

Then there is Anakin.

He is the last to pile off the ship, always dependable Anakin, putting the crew before himself, always. But there is no bright smile or joyful hollers like the rest of the crew. He is hunched from an injury to his back a couple missions ago, putting him out of commission for awhile. He has just now been allowed to go back. His eyes are no longer warm, they try, but usually it looks like the cold mud of a Trandoshan moon.

He looks haunted.

His cheeks are just now regaining their color and his skin always has a grayish hue to it now. His robes fit him like rags and he is skinny and he uses a cane now. His dull eyes spot Obi-Wan and a spark of life glitters and then dies somewhere in their depths. He walks with a temporary limp caused by his injury and leans heavily on his cane.

"How did the battle fare?" asks Obi-Wan, clapping him on the back.

Anakin stumbles a bit but then smiles, faking it the whole way. "I would say Captain Rex and his men deserve a long overdue break. They fought very well today."

Obi-Wan stops, missing the times the knight would sprint across the training room to go mess with the other clones or to go train with his Padawan.

"She's on Shili."

Anakin halts, the last echo of his cane hitting the floor sounding like blaster fire. He can hear Anakin's breathing start to labor and he can see his body start to tremble. He turns around with too much speed and agility for a man with an injury and is in the other knight's space in a fraction of a second.

"I told you to leave it alone Obi-Wan! She made her choice and that was to leave! I could have helped her, but she decided to leave the Order and that was her mistake!"

Everyone is looking at them now and Anakin can already feel the reports coming in.

_"Master Skywalker is unfit for active duty -"_

_"- dangerous to the objective of the mission -"_

_" - he has become too attached."_

He looks back at them all dead in the eyes.

"Move along," he growls.

They scurry away to the clone dormitories and whisper among themselves, eyeing Anakin.

"Do not bring up the Padawan again Master Kenobi," Anakin warns dangerously as he limps out of the hanger.

* * *

Anakin stands in front of the council, relaying news from his finished mission to Geonosis.

All the Jedi nod and mentally take reports. Master Yoda shifts and gathers the attention.

"There is a disturbance in the force."

He pulls up map of the outer rim galaxies and a small beacon of blue shines up in the center.

"There." He points and makes a small humming sound.

"A strong force, there is. Know what it is, I do not." Anakin moves forward ready to leave and be on his way to another mission.

"Would you like for Master Kenobi and I to perform a reconnaissance mission for you, Master?"

Yoda hums and shakes his head. "No. Assemble a team, I shall."

The rest of the Council nods at the silent dismissal of their meeting and stand one by one before making their way out of the room. Obi-Wan and Anakin go to follow, but Master Yoda calmly calls out,

"A warning I have for you, Master Skywalker. Stay here, we will."

Obi-Wan catches Anakin's eye before taking his leave. The Jedi Knight waits patiently for his older Master to walk to his position before he looks down questioningly.

"Be cautious, you must. A feeling, I have, that this is larger than all of us. Trust your senses and with time all will be revealed." Anakin studies the old master closely, looking for any signs that will give him an explanation. After finding none, he nods slowly and turns to continue his way out of the room.

* * *

With his hand clutching the handle, Anakin Skywalker tries to drown out the sound of canons and explosives surrounding him and his men. It has been only about a week after his last battle, but in those seven days, he's been restless.

When he was given a new mission, Anakin was practically jumping for joy - well as much as he could with an injury - because anything was better than being at the Temple, being stared at and pitied endlessly.

His grip tightens after one explodes relatively close to his gunship. He sways slightly from the small impact and coughs as the smoke contaminates the air.

"Sergeant, close the shield doors!" he calls to the front. Immediately he receives a response and seconds later the doors slam shut.

"They're attacking us pretty heavily, sir," Rex comments after the aircraft shakes yet again from another close explosive.

"This is an important planet, Rex," Anakin says. "It's essential that we don't let the Separatists gain control of it or the war could turn in their favor."

"What exactly is on this planet?" Rex questions. Anakin goes to respond, but before he can, his com link beeps with a transmission.

" _Anakin can you hear me?"_  Obi-Wan's familiar voice is slightly muffled by the caustic cacophony. He brings it closer to his ear so that he make out the oncoming messages easier.

"Loud and clear, Master," Skywalker replies.

" _Luminara's gunship has been shot down. It seems the droids were prepared for our attack."_

"Do you want me to go and aid her?"

" _No. You and your squadron are to continue as planned. Cody and I are going to her location and we will meet up with you as soon as we can."_

"On it," he replies. He looks up to Rex and raises an eyebrow. "Are the men ready?"

"We were born ready, sir," Rex answers, raising his pistol. "Let's go kill some clankers."

* * *

Anakin, Rex, and their men jump swiftly from the gunship and move hurriedly to the rocks for cover. Both commanding men turn to see numerous clones be shot down by their adversaries.

Anakin steals a glance over the rocks to see hundreds of droids closing in on them. He turns to Rex thoughtfully, thinking of a way to take them out easily. Spotting the backpack of one of his fallen troopers, his eyes alight with a sudden, short plan.

Rex follows his line of sight and sees what his commander sees. He reaches into his own pack and grabs a number of metallic spheres.

"Droid poppers!" Rex calls. His men follow his lead and too toss the small weapons at the offending bots. The small thought and action takes all of a few seconds - a minute at most - before a good fifteen percent of the enemies fall to the ground stunned.

Anakin, who is still injured but has yet to let it stop him, maneuvers skillfully over the rocks and charges the droids head on, all the while being sure to maintain most of his weight on his newly favored left leg.

His commander and squadron quickly join him on the offense. Slowly the enemy numbers diminish as droid after droid falls, utterly defeated. It isn't long before the only thing they face is a small number of droidekas who are easily overcome with the mere flick or a wrist and a rolling popper.

The remaining members of the squad draw together in the center of the now silent battle field awaiting orders. Anakin scopes the area one last time before disarming his lightsaber and mentally taking note of the number of clones he has left.

Everyone takes a moment to gather their breath and shake away the building fatigue before standing strong in perfect surrounding formation.

"Sir?" Rex inquires. Anakin overlooks everything yet again then turns to Rex fully.

"Check the supplies. We need to know what he have left to work with before moving on."

"Right way, sir." Rex salutes before turning to complete the given task.

* * *

Obi-Wan observes the battle below through open shield doors. His eyes run wild from place to place looking for his comrades damaged ship. He tilts his head towards the pilot before asking, "Any sign of them?"

The pilot shakes his head subconsciously as he calls back, "None, sir. I don't see anything - wait! There, roughly three miles and to the right."

Obi-Wan as well as the rest of the clones aboard turn to the given direction. They see nothing at first until Cody calls it.

"There. I see the smoke."

"Yes," Kenobi says, "as do I. Sergeant, how close can you get us to the sight?" The pilot goes to reply, however, he is distracted by oncoming vulture droids. He uses evasive maneuvers skillfully, but their right wing still manages to be hit.

The passengers lurch forward at impact and tighten their grip on the handles. Obi-Wan, who still needs an answer, call out to the pilot again.

"Sorry, sir. We were hit pretty bad, but I think I can get you in range by a couple hundred feet."

"That will have to do."

They all held on tightly as they neared their target due to the amount of explosives growing, and their accuracy getting better. The pilot tries his hardest to keep the aircraft up in the air for the longest amount of time, but slowly the ground grows closer and closer.

"We're losing altitude!" he shouts as a warning. Clones begin to wait expectantly for the impending crash. Soon, the gunship dives head first towards the ground. "I can't hold it any longer," the pilot grunts as the steering mechanism moves frantically.

"Brace yourselves!" Cody yells, and seconds later, the ship impacts.

* * *

Luminara regards as piles of bodies and machinery build on both sides of the battle. It's a struggle trying to maintain their perimeter but she and the men fight on. Together, the team fights strongly, but she can see them beginning to wear down and she hopes someone is coming to help.

As soon as she crashed, her and her men were surrounded on all sides. In order to defend their location and not be killed off easily, she had used the force to moves the wreckage from the ships to act as barriers against the enemies assault.

They manage a small circle in the center for all of the wounded men. Luminara knows that they need medical attention, but the droids are scrambling their com links.

Seeing a section of her squadron struggling, she moves quickly to aid them in their defense. Droid after droid she cuts down consistently. When the amount of droids on the side lessens, she moves back to her previous position. She spares a second to glance at the horizon for any sign of reinforcements and sighs when she sees none. Unable to dwell on the fact, she rushes back into the fight after hearing another one of her men being cut down.

In spite of all the clones give, they are slowly becoming overwhelmed. Slowly the are pushed back towards the center of their defense as more droids draw closer. Unknowing of what to do, Luminara begins contemplating the choice to surrender if it means her men will be spared.

Doubt starts to settle in the Jedi Master's head just as she hears the familiar voice of a longtime friend.

"Luminara!"

"Master Kenobi?" she questions to herself. It takes a second due to weariness for her to comprehend that Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is in fact, fighting his way to her location. Upon her realization, she cuts the last of the droids in front of her before turning and shouting back, "Master Kenobi!"

As the remaining clones take notice of the reinforcements, they fight back with a new vigor to win. Together the two groups fight and fight up until the point of no droids standing. When the last of them lay dead, the two teams slowly converge at the center of their "base." Luminara smiles tiredly at Master Kenobi when he comes to her.

"It's good to see you standing, Luminara." Luminara sighs a painful sigh.

"Yes, but if only there were more standing along side us. We have lost many men in this fight." Obi-Wan nods in agreement and offers himself as a support for his ally. He walks her over to a supply crate and sets her down gently. A medic comes to her aid and checks her over.

"There's nothing too bad," he explains as he gives her a shot in her neck, "but this will help any pain that you may be feeling." Luminara gives her thanks and takes a second to rest. Commander Cody walks to their position to relay his collected information.

"It seems you got hit hard; there aren't many of them left standing and many men are injured."

"Right," Kenobi responds. "Look to the injured, but we need to move soon. Anakin's still out there doing who knows what."

* * *

Anakin and his men slowly come to a halt at the end of the canyon wall. A clone moves silently to the front, and using his equipment, scopes out the area.

"No signs of movement, sir." Anakin nods and looks to his men, noting the air of fatigue.

"Alright men, we'll set up camp here, but be ready. We are moving soon Masters Kenobi and Luminara are depending on us to complete this mission, so we will."

One by one, each clones removes his helmet and settles onto the hard ground. They sigh collectively, glad to be resting. Rex remains by his superior's side awaiting further orders. He's not disappointed when Master Skywalker turns to him.

"Send some scouts up ahead. I want to know what we are going to be dealing with." The captain dips his head as a sign of understanding before calling out for two troopers.

"Net. Blaster." The two troopers jog to their commanding officer. "Lucky day, boys," Rex mocks, "you get to be our team scouts. Run ahead and report back at o-three-hundred." They sigh, disappointed, as the others chuckle at their lack of luck. Rex calmly raises an eyebrow at their action.

"Is there a problem, boys?"

"No, sir!"

"Good. Now get a move on." The two unlucky men sprint away quickly with the loud laughter of their teammates echoing in their ears.

* * *

As soon as they are out of sight, Net and Blaster slow to a mellow walk. Not even a second later, Net begins to complain.

"Why are we the ones elected to do 'recon?' We're clones, not patrol men."

Blaster mumbles his agreement but otherwise remains quiet, staying true to his name for he prefers to speak with his weapon and not with his mouth. Net, however, continues his rant, staying true to  _his_  name; the man never shuts up and often lets his mouth run for miles - it's a rather ironic title.

The two trek onward, periodically shifting their blasters when the position becomes uncomfortable. Minutes pass silently until Net releases an annoyed sigh. He opens his mouth to speak but his partner tugs him to the side and out of sight of the main path.

"What?"

"I've got movement dead ahead," Blaster explains. Net looks out from their cover to see nothing. He steps into the open and turns to Blaster exasperated.

"There's nothing here -" Net dives practically onto his friend after nearly having his head shot clean off. "Droids," he states as if his partner doesn't know. The duo fire back unwilling to let their enemies come any closer.

"I told you," Blaster comments off-handedly.

Net immediately replies, "Oh, shut up." They hold off for as long as they can, but are smart enough to understand when they are outnumbered. Gradually they take step after step in the opposite direction of the droids. When an opening has been found, they take it and run but are sure to lead them away from their squadron.

They travel as far as they can and manage to lose their opposers in a small tunnels located in the canyon's walls. Net uses the time Blaster has offered by keeping an eye out for a quick breather.

"That," he breathes, "that was a close one."

* * *

Master Obi-Wan Kenobi glances around cautiously, scoping the area for anything unusual. He helps Luminara stand to her feet and calls over his commander.

"Cody, we've been here long enough. We need to get a move on. Anakin is still expecting us and without our com links he has no idea what happened."

"How do you want to proceed?"

"We need a squadron to maintain this base; the wounded will only slow us down. The rest of the men will move on with me. We will meet Anakin just like we planned. Gather the men."

"Right away, sir." Commander Cody salutes before going ahead with the plans. "Alright men, fall in line," Obi-Wan hears Cody call.

Knowing that Cody has everything under control, he turns his attention back to Luminara, who is sitting in deep thought.

"Luminara, are you alright?" She turns to him with a frown marring her usually peaceful face.

"I worry for Master Skywalker." Obi-Wan pauses at her spoken words. He too, is worried for his old padawan. He has been different ever since Ahsoka's choice to leave the Order, but surely she has not noticed? Anakin does very well when it comes wearing a mask.

"If there's anyone that knows how to handle a situation, it's Anakin." Luminary gazes at him unimpressed.

"You know as well as I, that that is not what I was speaking about." Obi-Wan holds a steady stare unwilling to give up the wanted information. Seeing that he is going to remain silent, she continues on. "He is different, is he not? Ever since Padawan Tano left he has become, well, darker. And I know you sense it too."

"It is merely Anakin's way of coping." Obi-Wan plays. Though the chances are next to never, he is not willing to forfeit any information regarding his former apprentice. Luminara sighs at his choice of response.

"I can tell that you are unwilling to speak of this with me, but maybe you can speak to someone?"

No response.

"Anyone?" she tries again.

No response.

She sighs again. "I see we are going to reach no end. Let us drop the matter, shall we?" Obi-Wan nods.

"Yes, let's." He turns and begins walking in the direction of the planned conversion point a ways away.

* * *

"General Skywalker, it's past check-in, and Net and Blaster failed to report." Anakin stands steadily with his hands clasped behind his back, ignoring the message given from his captain. He remains stiff as a board, never shifting. Rex walks to his front and sees the look of deep thought placed on Anakin's face. He steps just the slightest bit closer hoping to bring his leader out of his mind.

Rex has seen the look before, many times actually. It was a look of remembrance and, as Rex has found out, is a very dangerous look for Anakin to have. It's a look that means broken rules. It's a look of feeling. It's a look of  _attachment,_ and that, that is the most dangerous thing for a Jedi to do. Become attached.

And that is exactly what Anakin has done, though Rex will never tell anyone that.

He grips General Skywalker's arm insistently and makes sure no one is within hearing distance.

"Anakin," he calls urgently and shakes the limb he has in his grasp. "You need to snap out of it. It's not safe, if someone sees you in such a state, they are bound to tell the Council." He shakes harder this time and successfully brings back his friend from the past. He steps back and takes his place as is nothing has just transpired between the two.

"Captain Rex," Anakin recognizes. He fixes his stance and puts on a mask of indifference. "You were saying?"

"Right. The two troopers, Net and Blaster, failed to report in." Anakin nods thoughtfully while mentally counting how much time has passed.

"We can't wait for them any longer to return either. Contact them and see if you can get their location. Either way, we need to move now. Masters Obi-Wan and Luminara are expecting us."

"On it, sir." Rex stands at attention before turning and heads off. He brings his com link up close enough and sends his transmission. "Net. Blaster. Do you come in?" He listens for a response, but only hears the never ending static. "Troopers, do you come on?" He shakes his head in irritation when he yet again is met with silence on their end. He is prepared to cut the transmission when he hears a shift in the static.

" _What do you think they are going to do to them?"_ the very diacritic voice of a droid drones.

"Damn," he mutters. He turns and runs back to his leader. "General, Net and Blaster have been should we do, sir?"

"Gather all the men, we need to move now. We can't risk the droids finding us now." Rex accepts the answer, but can't hide his minor concern for his troopers.

"And Net and Blaster, sir?" he asks. Anakin sighs.

"Hopefully we can find them along the way." Rex, knowing this is the best Anakin can offer, leaves to gather all the troops.

"Alright boys. . ."

* * *

Net and Blaster hide within the crevice of the canyon just out eyesight. Blaster sits closer to the entrance keeping his eyes and ears open for any more movement. Net, on the other hand, leans back lazily kicking his feet out awaiting Blaster's okay to move.

"They're not going to find us in here, you can relax," Net comments while tossing his hands behind his head. Blaster turns to his comrade and rolls his eyes in annoyance as a scoff escapes his lips.

"You never know what's out there," he responds. His attention turns back to the opening and his eyes widen when he spots incoming clankers.

"I know but I'm just saying -" Net goes to reply, but an unexpected hand reaches and covers his mouth. His words of protest are muffled, but his eyes get the point across.

"Be quiet, there are droids out," Blaster whispers. Net nods his confirmation and removes Blaster's hand.

"They're too stupid to look in here." Net claims. "There's no way we are going to be found out." Just as the words leave his mouth, his com link beeps and Rex's voice fills the small crevice with noise.

" _Net. Blaster. Do you come in?"_ Both of theirs eyes widen dramatically. Of all the times to get a call. . .

Blaster quickly covers the transmission hoping that is was not heard by their enemy. The scoot back as far as they can and strain their ears to hear the conversation taking place.

"Huh? I think I heard something," they hear a droid say. "It came from over there."

"Well, check it out," another one commands. They stay as still as they possibly can when they hear the footsteps move closer. A shadow covers the entrance. The two hidden clones hold their breath and hope they are hidden enough. They wait for what feels like hours before the shadow disappears.

"I guess it was nothing," the droid tells the others. Slowly, the two clones move back to their previous positions so that they can make sure the droids are as far away as necessary.

"Stupid droids," Net mumbles before shouting. His foot catches a blaster which falls to the floor and fires a shot from the impact. They dodge quickly as it bounces off the walls and make to dive out of the crevice when it comes to close.

They uncover their head and look up from their position on the floor to see they have been surrounded.

"Well what do we have here?" one droid asks.

"It seems these clones were hiding in that crevice over there," another one answers. They all sit for a moment in silence, looking at each other. "What do we do now?"

"Bring them with us," the first commands. As the two clones are being lifted off the floor, Net inconspicuously clicks the button on his wrist which effectively turns on his communication.

* * *

"What do you see, Cody?" Obi-Wan asks. The squad is waiting at the edge of the cliff looking down at the Separatist base.

"There's a whole lot of clankers, sir. It's going to be a tough fight."

"It always is," Obi-Wan agrees. "Do you have eyes on Anakin?"

"Negative, sir." Obi-Wan sighs and stands from his crouched position.

"We'll have to move ahead without them then. We have no more time to waste." Cody scopes the area one last time not expecting to see anything, but spots a small herd of men on the backs of heavy hoofed creatures across the way on the other side of the canyon.

"General Kenobi, there's something you need to see." Cody points in the direction and Obi-Wan's eyes follow. He spots figures on the backs of large animals, the ends of their scarf-like head covers billowing in the wind. He watches as one, seemingly the leader, raises the inside wrist to mouth level for a moments time before lowering it back down. Obi-Wan's eyes narrow in suspicion. He's prepared to call out to the figures as a horse like nicker gently fills his ears.

The animals grow antsy and continuously pound their feet onto the hard, dusty ground. Brown clouds swirl up effectively hiding the people. Obi-Wan hears another single neigh, and when the dust clears, the figures are gone.

He turns back to Cody confused, who in return answers, "I don't know, sir." He turns the ground and notices the pebbles begin to tremble. A thunderous like roar shakes their bodies and makes the hair on their necks stand. A yellow and grey starfighter comes from the direction of the figures and towards Obi-Wan. It flies over their heads before shooting straight towards the stars.

Before it left, however, it turned upside down for the slightest of seconds. Though it was not much, Kenobi makes out the darkened cloak of a hooded figure and the white helmet of a clone. He also can't help but compare the detail of the starfighter to that of the one Anakin lost nearly two years ago. As he watches it go, he feels as if something was about to transpire. What is was, he did not know, but it could not have been very good.

Luminara walks over to Kenobi who turns to her thoughtfully and says, "I did not realize there were renegades in the system." Luminara has no response and they turn together to relay the plan to the troopers.

* * *

Commander Cody awaits patiently with the rest of his men. His eyes follow General Kenobi's movements just in case he signals them to move. He hears his men shift uneasily as they all itch for a good fight.

"Easy boys," he calmly commands. They all settle awaiting further orders. Cody turns back to the General and watches as he force jumps to the top of the wall silently takes out the droids on watch. On the other side if the base, he notices Luminara do the same. He grips his blaster tighter, knowing it will soon be his turn to act.

Obi-Wan turns to Cody's position and signals them to start. Cody turns to his men and nods. "Toss 'em up boys." Immediately, they all throw bombs at the doors of the base. He listens as they shout their battle cries and rush forward. He smiles the slightest bit before rushing in alongside them.

* * *

Net releases another bored and irritated sigh hoping that it will draw Blaster's attention, who is currently ignoring him.

"This isn't my fault you know," Net tries. Blaster scoffs in response. "Fine," Net grumbles, "be that way." Blaster rolls his eyes and shifts the slightest bit away. Net mumbles incoherently under his breath. Suddenly he turns to Blaster. "You know, if it's anyone's fault it's yours.  _You_ shouldn't have left the kriffing blaster where you did."

"Do you ever shut up?" Blaster asks.

"No," Net states proudly. "I don't."

Blaster shakes his head. "That's not something to be proud of." Net childishly makes a face at Blaster before turning away again. They sit in silence until they hear the loud blasts and see small amounts of rubble fall from the ceiling. Net glances up in interest.

"Looks like the cavalry is here. How long do you think it will take them to find us?"

"Not soon enough," Blaster mutters quietly.

"I heard that," Net cries indignantly. Blaster groans and tosses his head into the back wall. They better hurry up.

* * *

Obi-Wan and Luminara stand defensively, back to back, fighting off incoming droids.

"There's more than I expected," he tells the other master. "Anakin better get here soon."

"I agree," Luminara responds distractedly. The both block shot after shot before rushing in opposite directions, cutting down everything in their path. They run together to help out the clones. Slowly, the come to realize there are too many and the will soon be over ridden. The group folds into itself in hopes that the defensive tactic will survive another wave.

They all shake unsteadily when a bomb goes off. Obi-Wan looks in its direction to find Anakin and his squad fighting their way over. It doesn't take long for them all to merge.

"It's about time you showed up," Obi-Wan says slightly out of breath.

"I knew you missed me, old man."

"Old man?" Kenobi huffs. "I'll show you old."

"If you two are done?" Luminara buts in. Anakin chuckles in response and turns back to fighting. Together with the combined forces it takes very little time to win the battle. After the last of the droids are slain, Anakin disarms his lightsaber and places it back on the clip. Everyone draws together to congratulate each other on yet another victory. Laughter fills the air and a wave of happiness coats over the grounds.

"Wait, wait, wait," a clone calls out. Everyone turns to him. "Does anyone hear that?" Everyone collectively quiets down and strains their ears to hear the sound. A slightly muffled, screeching voice flutters into their ears.

" _Hello!"_ it screams. _"We're still waiting!"_ They all turn to each other in confusion. After a short pause another, slightly deeper, voice calls out.

" _Someone get me away from this kriffing lunatic!"_

" _Hey!"_ the first voice says clearly feeling offended. Chuckles escape the lips of Anakin's men as they realize who it is they're hearing. They see Rex, who has removed his helmet, roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Someone go get those two," he commands. A single clone nods and takes off as the rest stand and chuckle. Another typical end after a battle with droids.

* * *

Anakin is standing stiffly while talking with Master Mace Windu. It isn't that he hates the man, he just happens to strongly dislikes him. So, it is no surprise that he feels like bashing his head every time he gets berated for a job well done. Currently he is fighting very hard with himself to withhold a snarky and extremely rude comment back. He 'listens intently' while picturing small, humorous ways he can end his own suffering.

" _. . . and another thing . . ."_ he hears Windu start again and grumbles in irritation. It takes minutes, possibly hours, for the man to finish his rant. When it stops, Anakin sighs in relief.

"Will that be all, master?" He hopes to all things that the answer is yes.

 _"No."_ Anakin groans in disbelief. Windu either doesn't hear him or is choosing to ignore it. _"You are needed on Kamino. Shaak Ti is having trouble with a rogue clone."_

"Of course, Master." Anakin cuts off the transmission with a roll of his eyes and heads towards his star fighter.

* * *

Luminara glances in concern as Obi-Wan explains the figures and star fighter he saw. She did see the fighter, but not the people.

"What do you think they reported? And to whom would they report it to?" she asks him.

"I haven't the slightest clue," he tells her. "But I feel that we are missing something. Whatever it is, we better keep our eyes open." Luminara nods and they turn just in time to see Anakin's fighter leave the planet.


	3. Episode 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. I am so so so sorry about this uber late update, but I've been so busy, and so has Megan (but to be honest being this late is all my fault). Being only 16 and having work and school and extracurriculars, it's hard to find a lot of free time, but that's no excuse. Anyway, here is-finally- the next chapter, and there is a gift along with it. This chapter is a whole 1.5k LONGER! WooHoo! I hope you guys enjoy, and at the bottom of this, I have a really important question that I would like your opinion on. Enjoy!

_Boom._

Another bombs falls upon the Republic forces occupying Raxis. Many clones run to take cover as well as find any undamaged goods that can help them maintain control of the battle. Together they work to hold off all approaching enemies, but the incoming amount seems endless. One by one, they begin to be overpowered. Just as they lift their heads from shelter after another explosion, they see a flash of blue and of green and observe as their two commanding Jedi join the fight.

"I'm glad we decided to stay here in case the Separatists tried again to reclaim Raxis," Luminara tells Obi-Wan as they fight.

"Yes, they do seem to find this planet important," Obi-Wan observes. He cuts down another droid before twisting to deflect the shot of another. Seeing that they are slowly being overpowered, he calls out for his second-in-command.

"Sir!" Cody shouts in response upon hearing his name being called.

"We are too outnumbered. Call the men back, we need to get out of here."

"Right away, sir." Cody shoots multiple times at the attackers before beginning to back up.

"Men," he calls, "fall back!" He continues firing as his men begin to run past him and into the canyon. No sooner than they reach it, Obi-Wan turns back to see droid star fighters bombing the very place they were standing moments ago.

* * *

General Ack-Var, commander of the Separatist fleet, sits stiffly as his superior fires orders at him. His face remains impossibly stoic as he mentally refuses his body to tremble in fear as many do when facing the man he is currently listening to.

" _. . . there is no room for error,"_ he hears. " _The Separatist need Raxis. It contains some of the purest elements underneath all the rock."_

"Understood, sir," he responds with a nod of respect.

" _Do not fail me."_ The transmission of General Grievous fades away. With his emotionless expression still on his face, Ack-Var turns to his droids demanding a report.

"They seem to have gone into the canyon, sir," a droid tells him. Ack-Var narrows his eyes and tightens a fist.

"Find them," he demands. "I will not have them ruining my plans."

"Roger, roger." The droid salutes before turning back to the others. "Send out the probes," he orders.

* * *

"Sir," Cody says, drawing the attention of his leader, "we need a plan." Obi-Wan crosses his legs and strokes his beard thoughtfully.

"Agreed, but how to proceed? Luminara?" He turns to the female in question. She, too, has a thoughtful look on her face.

"When we strike, we need to hit their essentials," she explains. "I believe we should split into four teams. Two teams should sneak to the ground base and take out the heavy weaponry. The third will stay here. No doubt the droids are looking for us, so they will lead them on a wild goose chase while you and I," she motions to Kenobi, "will find the commanding vessel and take it out."

Obi-Wan sits still, contemplating. "Hmm, that is good. We should proceed as soon as—"

"Droids!" a clone interrupts, pointing in the direction of where he sees them. He turns to say something else, but a shot straight in his chest silences him forever. Obi-Wan stands quickly and draws his saber.

"Split up and move ahead with the plan," he orders. The men nod and turn to run further into the canyon. They move as one making sharp turns through the maze. As soon as they lose the droids for the slightest of seconds, the groups separate as planned.

Two teams make a sharp turn and crouch lowly, watching the droids run past them. Obi-Wan and Luminara do the same at a turn up further. They linger in the shadows in case some droids stayed behind. When they hear nothing, the step into the sunlight before force jumping out of the canyon and onto the edge of the cliff.

* * *

Cautiously, Luminara and Obi-Wan Kenobi observe the Separatists from the cliffs above. Their eyes study every inch of it, looking for the commander. They look over it once. . . twice. . . a third time, yet they still do not see anything.

"Well, this certainly does complicate things," Obi-Wan states. Luminara turns away from the base to look at him.

"How are we to put a stop to this, if we do not even know who is in charge?" she questions. Rather than answer her, he lifts up his arm and clicks on his communicator.

"Cody?" he asks. He waits patiently for a response.

" _Sir."_

"It seems we are in need of a new plan. We cannot find the commander or his main fleet," he explains.

" _Well, there's nothing down here but droids, sir."_ Obi-Wan releases a sigh of irritation. He goes to respond, but Luminara stops him.

"Wait," she says. "What is that? In the sky." Obi-Wan glances to where she is pointing and sees a small speck of black that is slowly growing larger.

"Give me a moment, Cody," he says into the com link, before turning his whole body in the direction of the speck.

" _Awaiting further orders, sir,"_  he barely hears. He lifts his dominant hand to block the sun as he squints his eyes. He strains his eyes trying to make it out before they widen in realization. He turns to Luminara, who has also realized what it is.

"Never mind, Cody," Obi-Wan dismisses. "We've found what we were looking for. Proceed as planned."

" _Got it."_

Kenobi turns back to his partner and asks, "Shall we?" nodding his head towards the hovering vessel. Luminara nods with a small smile and together they jump onto the vessel when just reaches their range.

* * *

"Okay, gentlemen, here's the plan. Teams of two will hit each of the essentials swiftly and silently. We'll rendezvous back here where team one will meet us. Understood?" Commander Cody questions. Each clone nods his understanding. "Good. Teams are as ordered: Jesse and Puck, Blaze and Shifter, Net and Blaster. Hothead, you're with me. Everyone good? Then let's get moving."

* * *

Silently, the pairs of men separate and move to their designated locations of attack. They weave like shadows, slipping into every crevice in order to remain unseen. As one man infiltrates, the other guards. Their motions show signs of experience and familiarity with both the situation and each other.

As soon as each unit has set their charges, they all move back to the rendezvous point. For every pair that returns, the chances of victory increase. When Cody mentally head counts and comes to the conclusion all of his men are back, he still demands a vocal assurance.

"Everything's good, sir," Shifter tells him. "Now what?"

Cody turns and looks to the sky before answering, "Now, we wait."

* * *

Obi-Wan and Luminara move swiftly through the hallways, hoping to come in contact with little amounts of droids. They pause thinking they hear a large group. Luminara looks around for a hiding place while Obi-Wan peaks his head around the corner. He starts to cautiously yet quickly back away when a droid turns and spots him.

"Hey, you!" it shouts, drawing the attention of the others and pointing his gun in Obi-Wan's direction. "Stop." Obi-Wan turns back to warn Luminara buts sees that she is already climbing into the air vent. General Kenobi knows he cannot simply disappear, otherwise the droids will warn their commander and Obi-Wan will no longer have the element of surprise on his side. Instead, he places his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. "You're coming with us," the same droid tells him."

"I was merely wishing to speak to your commanding officer," Obi-Wan responds.

"Uh, okay," the droid says while scratching the top of his metallic head. He pushes the built-in com link in his arm, calling his superior. "Commander," he calls hesitantly, "we have a situation."

" _What is it?"_  Obi-Wan hears the dead, flat voice ask. He easily picks up on the disinterest of the man receiving the call.

"There's a Jedi here, sir," the droid explains. "He says he wants to meet with you."

" _Bring him to me,"_ the commander demands.

"Okay, sir." The droid ends the call before looking towards the others. "Grab him." Two super battle droids easily lift Kenobi off the ground and begin walking to the ship's deck. Before they fully turn the corner, Obi-Wan glances back one last time to see Luminara coming out of her hiding spot and running in the opposite direction of Obi-Wan and the droids.

* * *

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the infamous General Kenobi," Obi-Wan hears a strong voice bellow. He takes quick notice of the lavish surroundings before turning his attention to the well built Zygerrian sitting at an expensive looking desk across the room. The floor-to-ceiling windows let in endless amounts of light, but Obi-Wan is unable to make out the face of his adversary due to the shadows cast by the chair's high back.

"I would say the same, however, I am unable to make out your face," Obi-Wan replies. He tilts his head slightly to the left as to better see within the cloak of darkness. His capturer releases a deep, raspy chuckle before standing with his arms out wide.

"I am General Ack-Var, commander of this fleet, and you are my latest conquest," he introduces. He stands tall and at attention with an air of power surrounding him.

"Am I?" Kenobi questions. He studies Ack-Var's face carefully, taking note of the deep scars that cover the right side of the Zygerrian's face. They are a bruising purple and red that almost fit with his skin tone. His mouth is almost undamaged from the defect, except for one line that runs directly through both lips. His right eye is slightly more closed than the left and the eye itself is a lighter color.

Ack-Var nods at Kenobi's rhetorical question with a smirk on his lips."Well, if you're so sure," Kenobi responds smartly, "then you would not need these droids to continue to suspend me." He motions to the two droids holding his forearms with his thumbs. Ack-Var laughs again and motions for the droids to let Obi-Wan go. Obi-Wan lands gracefully and removes imaginary dirt from his robes. He bows slightly and says, "Thank you."

"But of course," Ack-Var replies. "Now how about we discuss your terms of surrender over some refreshments." He waves over to the side of the room where a table sits with food and drinks upon it. Obi-Wan walks calmly to the table and graciously takes his seat. He lifts his steaming cup to his nose and takes a whiff of the sweet smelling concoction. He watches the steam swirl into the air as his mind drifts back to his partner.

* * *

Luminara watches as the droids drag Obi-Wan around the corner before dropping to the floor below silently. She runs in the opposite direction until she reaches the end of the hallway where it splits in two directions. She looks down both and realizes they look exactly the same. A sigh escapes her lips at the impasse she has reached. She continues to look down the hallways hoping for the answer to come to her.

Minutes pass and as she finally decides on a choice, she notices the shadows of droids coming in her direction from the right hallway. Upon seeing no hiding spot, she quickly sprints down the left. Her footsteps are silent as she runs and runs. The gray walls around her show no sign of direction and she prays to the Ones that she is going the right way.

She slows to a jog when she sees a red light up ahead. She silently pulls out her light saber and walks cautiously forward. The closer she gets, the more clearly she hears gears turning. She reaches the end and looks around the corner to see the power core she has been searching for. She clicks her light saber off and steps fully into the room.

A massive sphere of yellow energy sits suspended between two magnetic fields that are placed on the floor and ceiling. The whirring sound of turning gears fills her ears as she walks around looking for an off switch. Just as she reaches the other side of the orb, she runs into numerous battles droids accompanied by four droidekas. A B1 battle droid lifts his gun and shouts at her, "Stop right there." Luminara, knowing better to reach for her saber, raises her hands in the air as a sign of surrender.

* * *

The pristine glass is gently raised to his lips as Obi-Wan takes a gentle sip. He places the cup back down before reaching and adding just the tiniest bit of sugar. He lifts the spoon silently and stirs the cooling liquid. Once, twice, he taps it to remove the excess drops before placing it back down. He focuses intently as if it were an arduous task, though he only wishes to buy more time for his partner. He again lifts the cup and takes a small sip before starting the process over again.

General Ack-Var watches the display with calculating eyes. "General Kenobi," he says with a tilt of his head, "if I did not know any better, I would think you are deliberately wasting my time. Perhaps you have something up your sleeve, hm?" Obi-Wan's eyes flicker away from his task at hand to look at the stiff Zygerrian in front of him. His lips quirk up in a playful smirk as he raises and eyebrow.

"Surely you do not believe I have such a plan, General?" Obi-Wan answers with a question back. Ack-Var's eyes narrow dangerously at the response.

"Surely you do not think me a fool, Jedi?" he asks back rhetorically.

"Why, not at all—I was merely enjoying the silence," Obi-Wan replies smartly. Ack-Var's hands tighten into fists of anger. His eyes flash before his features and body language relax and a look of antipathy masks his face. He stands with a natural grace and places his hands behind his back and walks towards the wall of windows. He glances back at his enemy and afterwards turns to look at the world down below. Minutes pass as the two remain silent. Kenobi watches the near-human man cautiously, and nearly jumps when he is suddenly spoken to.

"There is a tradition of sorts on my home planet. When a Zygerrian general finds and claims a planet, they call forth the strongest dweller and challenges him. If the general wins, he brings honor to his people and keeps the Zygerrian rule strong, but should he lose, he is seen as weak and unfit to call himself one of the people. The first commander, as a right, is to strip his superior of his title and end his existence." Ack-Var turns back to face his opposer and stands strong.

"You are an honorable man, and you have won many battles. You are strong, a protector of the people below us and a worthy adversary. Is it not my right to challenge you as is tradition? Am I to leave and show this galaxy how weak the Zygerrians are, or am I to fight and defend my name, my honor? You are as a Jedi are sworn to protect those who wish to cause others harm, but are we not doing what we were made to do? The galaxy must have order, and the only way to achieve it is for one race, one power, to guide those weaker than us and show them them what they are made to do."

"And that is to what?" Kenobi asks. "Serve you? These people deserve to chose how they want to live." He stands and moves forward until only few steps remain between them. "The Order will not tolerate this," he says sternly. His accent runs thick in his speech as tension fills the room.

Ack-Var spreads his legs and hangs his arms tightly by his sides. He looks to Obi-Wan with the promise of battle and defiance in his eyes. His knuckles crack individually as his fingers curl towards the palm of his hand. "Then let us fight," he growls before shooting forward, his fist up and swinging.

* * *

Cody and his men sit silently in the shadows, observing their enemy's every move. They wait for the signal from their superiors to take out the heavy artillery. Most of the squad sit with their backs against the wall in utter boredom while Cody and Jesse keep watch. Cody listens as they whisper jokes and tales and "Remember that time when…" back and forth. He shakes his head at one of the more recent stories regarding Net, multiple cups of Spirit, and a beautiful other-worlder that turned out to be male. He chuckles himself at the end of it and Net smacks his teammate for sharing such a thing about him.

Blaster goes on to begin another memory that he can recall, but Cody shushes him when he stops Jesse's hand movements.

_Get down_ , they say.  _Patrol._

Cody signals them all to the ground or further in the shadows to prevent being spotted. The men scoot back altogether. Net and Blaster move back into the supply crates, barely out of sight. Net goes out of his way not to touch Blaster for he is still mad at his embarrassing night being retold. Blaster pulls him back and playfully locks him in a hold and whispers with a chuckle, "Lighten up, Trap." He chuckles again at the spontaneous nickname which his captive does not seem to find very funny.

They continue to play fight in between the crates slowly growing louder as the fighting turns rough. It grows to the point where the crates around them begin to shake heavily.

"Let me go!" Net yelps.

"Knock it off," Cody commands harshly. They continue to struggle, however, until Net thinks to place his feet on the crate in front of him and push back with all his strength. The two go tumbling back with the crates out into the open. Several droids come running towards the racket and find the pair in a heap on the floor. The rest of the hidden team look with agitation on their faces, not looking forward to the upcoming fight.

"Hey," one droid realizes while scratching its head, "you're not supposed to be—" he's cut off as a bullet pierces through his metal plating.

"Wha?" another droid asks before realizing what has taken place. "We're under attack!" he shouts. "Help! We're under attack! We're under attack—!" He too is shot in the head and taken out, but it is too late and the others have been warned. The clone squadron becomes beleaguered by endless amounts of droids. Knowing they need to shake things up if they want to survive, Cody pulls out the detonation trigger and pushes it, setting off all of the charges. The ground shakes and the droids stumble. The team finds an opening in the circle and take it, running to cover.

"After them!" a B2 droid commands with a monotone robotic voice. Several assassin droids begin marching forwards, and the clones retaliate by shooting as many as they can. Cody squats down behind the cover and lifts his arm to call the Jedi.

"General Kenobi, this is Cody, come in. We have engaged the enemy and are taking heavy fire. We need back up. I repeat, we have engaged the enemy, and we need help." As he waits for a response, he stands back up and takes out multiple droids. He ducks as a blast misses his head by mere centimeters. He stays down and tries again. "General Kenobi, do you copy? Master Unduli, do you copy? Does anyone copy?! We are taking heavy fire and are in need of support!" Again he receives no response. He looks up at Jesse who is watching him try to make contact. Cody sighs and gives a slight shake of the head. "It looks like we're on our own boys. Keep going. We will try to hold out until we receive word from the General."

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all respond strongly.  _No one,_  they think,  _is going to die today._

* * *

Luminara Unduli stands tensely with her hand raised in surrender and her fingertips barely brushing the cloth of her head piece. Her eyes flicker around looking for possible escape routes. Three droidekas along with two B2 droids and multiple B1 battle droids surround her. They all stand in silence, each unsure what move to make. She is so far unsuccessful in finding a way out, until the solution is presented to her on a silver platter. Her com link beeps it usual tone and lights up in fast green flashes. She ignores it and instead keeps her eyes on the droid in front of her.

"What is that?' one droid off to the side asks, looking towards the others. The one in front of her takes a step towards her and lowers its blaster just the slightest bit.

"I think it's coming from the Jedi," it answers. It takes another step forward just as the room is filled with Commander Cody's voice.

" _General Kenobi, do you copy? Master Unduli, do you copy? Does anyone copy?! We are taking heavy fire and are in need of support!"_  A sliver of concern reflects in the Jedi master's eyes as she processes what has been said, but she refuses to let the concern mark her features. The droid who is now closest to her turns its back on her and scratches its head.

"I think it's a communication device," it explains.

The first droid who is still off to the side replies with, "Destroy it." The middle droid walks forward and reaches out hesitantly to grip Luminara's arm to grab the device from her wrist. Luminara, seeing the opportunity, grabs the droid and turns it so its back is to her chest as a shield.

The startled droids in front of her shoot at her but hit their fellow droid instead. As its body falls apart, Luminara force pushes the droid away and into the others. While pulling out her saber, she force jumps out of the circle and cuts down the others as she goes. The droidekas pull up their shields as they open fire at her. She dodges and runs around the core trying to get them to follow. They do so without hesitance and roll towards her with their shields down. Luminara stops mid-sprint, pivots, and cuts down the three one at a time. She walks back around the core to find one last droid whose legs have been severed by her saber. As she calmly approaches with her light saber ablaze, it looks to her and whines desperately, "Wait, no!" It tries to scurry away, but before it even moves an inch, Luminara separates its head from its body. Luminara clicks off her saber and releases a quiet sigh of satisfaction.

"Now," she mumbles to herself. "How to destroy the core?" She places her hands on her hips and looks around for the answer. She looks around quickly yet efficiently for a way to deactivate the core. Her eyes search and search for a way, and she grows internally frustrated at her failure.

Knowing that she is running out of time, she gives up looking and runs to the panel attached to the core's suspenders. With fast reflexes, she clicks on her light saber and slashes anything and everything. She waits a moment for something to happen and lets a rare smile slip when she hears the machinery begin to slow to a halt.

"I've got it," she says aloud and mentally gives herself a job well done. She spots the mass of energy begin to waver and runs through the door and out the room not waiting for the explosion she knows is going to come.

* * *

Pieces of glass from the priceless artifact sail through the air and pierce the maroon walls. A groan of pain escapes Obi-Wan's lips as he lifts himself up from the ground and removes a sliver from his thigh. He uses to wall to balance himself as he looks upon the other being. He feels blood trickle down his chin, and he raises a gloved hand to wipe it away.

He stumbles forward and attempts a punch, but his opponent sidesteps him and locks his throwing arm in a hold. Obi-Wan struggles to break free but is unable. Ack-Var kicks the inside of Obi-Wan's knees, immediately sending the latter to the floor. Still holding his arm, Ack-Var pulls Obi-Wan up so that only his knees, calves, and toes touch the floor. He takes his free hand and grips Obi-Wan's hair tightly and yanks his head back.

"I once thought you to be a mighty opponent, General Kenobi," he tells the weak Jedi. Ack-Var looks down at his bleeding form with a frown. "It seems I was wrong."

Obi-Wan coughs and more blood spills out of his mouth. He looks Ack-Var in the face and responds with a slight wheeze, "Truthfully, I had hoped your ship would be destroyed by now." It may have been a coincidence, but as soon as the words leave his mouth, the floor shakes heavily, throwing Ack-Var across the room. Obi-Wan stands unsteadily and removes the spilt blood. "Finally," he mumbles to himself. He attempts to stand straight and watches as Ack-Var climbs to his feet. The ground beneath them sways, yet Obi-Wan stays strong. "I do believe our time is up, General," he says as a final line. Using a majority of his strength, he force pushes the general through the glass window and down to the platform twenty feet below.

* * *

Obi-Wan semi-gracefully lands on the platform below. He watches as his enemy slowly tries to stand. He knows Luminara has finished things on her end, but has yet to hear from his second-in-command. He lifts his com link and pushes on the green flashing circle.

"Cody, it's Kenobi, is everything alright?" He awaits a response. He receives none and motions to call again. As soon as he reaches for it, it goes off. He quickly clicks it on and barely makes out Cody's voice over the sounds of battle.

" _General Kenobi, are you there?"_ Obi-Wan hears more shots fired and his men shouting.

"I'm here," Obi-Wan confirms. "Cody, what's going on?" he asks with a reprimanding tone.

" _We've engaged the enemy, sir—Hey, watch it!"_ Cody shouts. Obi-Wan waits for him to continue his explanation. " _We're heavily out numbered. I don't know how much longer we can hold out."_  Obi-Wan's tired eyes flicker back to his almost standing opponent.

"Hang on, Cody. I'll be there as soon as I can."

" _We'll be here, sir. Just get here fast—"_ Multiple blaster shots go off and the signal becomes momentarily lost.

"Cody?" Obi-Wan calls worriedly. "Can you hear me?!" More shots go of and Obi-Wan hears incomprehensible shouting.

" _General Kenobi."_ Obi-Wan sighs in relief until hearing the rest of the message. " _There's something here! Something—What the hell?!"_

* * *

Commander Cody fires shot after shot at the enemy, unwilling to give into capitulation. He is refuses to let the sound of his men fall hinder him as he continues to fight. Though he supposes it will do him no good, he silently prays to The Ones for aid to come. His numbers are dwindling while it seems the enemy's size is rapidly growing. He ducks back down as a shot comes too close for comfort. He turns and spots Jesse holding his wounded shoulder. His eyes are hazy and unfocused. "I'm fine, Commander," he hears over the sounds of battle. Cody reaches over and places his hand over the wound to add more pressure.

"You will be," Cody says determinedly. He turns his head to look across the gap in coverage and calls to his other men. "I need a medic!" he hollers.

"Medic!" another clone echos, and the others follow suit. Another grabs a near by bag and quickly darts across the opening. Puck crouches in front of Jesse and gently grabs at the wound. Cody watches as he sifts through the bag and pulls out a shot of adrenaline.

Cody, seeing that his friend is in good hands, nods and turns back to the fight. He returns the rapid fire with shots of his own. His hears more and more of his men falling to the ground dead. His grip tightens around his blaster to the point where his gloved knuckles are sure to be white.

Another trooper cries out in pain as a bullet pierces his armor and burns his flesh. Puck, having finished with Jesse, prepares to run to the wounded soldier. He takes the first step and steps out into the open just as another clones shouts out, "Bomb!" It rolls to his feet and detonates before he can even react. Cody's eyes widen, and he releases a hissed breath between clenched teeth. He prepares to strike back just as his com link beeps. Another grenade goes off and he can only make out a few syllables of the message.

"General Kenobi, are you there?" he asks. He barely makes out the static over the battle, but the second message is much more clear than the first.

" _I'm here. Cody, what's going on?"_  Cody sighs in relief upon hearing his commanding officer.

"We've engaged the enemy, sir— Hey watch it!" Cody shouts as friendly fire nearly hit him. He glares at the poorly aimed clone through his visor. "We're heavily outnumbered," he continues. "I don't know how much longer we can hold out."

" _Hang on, Cody. I'll be there as soon as I can."_  Cody nods though Obi-Wan cannot see it.

"We'll be here, sir. Just get here fast—" Cody hisses in pain when a when a stray shot unarms him. He turns to see a droid feet away from him and drawing closer. He runs and engages it, though it isn't much of a fight. He steals the droid's gun and uses it to beat the metal android. He fires once at another droid before fighting off more and more in hand-to-hand combat. He barely hears Obi-Wan call out his name as he fights. Cody grows anxious as he and his men become swarmed. There are so many, he can barely make out the members of his squadron.

He fights stronger and faster, unwilling to go down and refusing to accept defeat. He feels his muscles tighten as the possibility of losing enters his mind. He knows he mustn't concentrate on the doubt, but now that it has entered his mind, it will not go away. His teeth are clenched and his heart is racing in his ears. He is so focused, he does not take notice of the unnatural cloud heading his way, nor does he notice the sound of hooves stomping on the ground.

* * *

Jesse fires a clean shot at the head of an oncoming B2 droid. The metallic head separates from the body and flies backwards a few feet. If it wasn't such a serious time, he would have found it funny.

He glances out of the corner of his eye to see his commander fighting weaponless and shakes his head. "Woah," he starts, throwing his body back to avoid the oncoming swing. He takes to the ground and rolls outward before standing, turning, and firing a single shot in its back. The droid falls cleanly to the dusted rock.

He pivots his body to find another enemy to engage when he spots a voluminous cloud moving towards the battle. He studies it carefully for something feels off about it. He activates his visor, zooming in on the dust cloud. Nothing is visible. He continues to analyze as he's still shot at by incoming droids. He cleanly kills them off without removing his eyes from the cloud for more than a few seconds.

Jesse is about to turn away and fully return to the squadron's location when he spots hooved animals racing within the dust. His head involuntarily tilts in curiosity and suspicion. Why would these animals be racing towards the fight? With all the noise and blasters firing, they should be running in the opposite direction. He lifts his hand and zooms in his vision to see the silhouettes of men on the back of the animals. His eyes narrow as one animal-assuming it holds the leader-comes further out of the dust.

His body is covered in brown cloth that billows behind him. He rides fiercely with his body leaning forward and one hand on the reins. His other hand raises up with a long sharp shooter clenched tightly in his fist. In total, he's about twenty meters away.

Jesse turns and runs back towards Cody to warn him about the approaching cavalry. Everyone is still in heavy combat and are unaware of what is headed towards them. He pushes himself faster as he shouts, "Commander Cody!" Cody is still fighting and does not hear his name being shouted across the battlefield. Jesse shouts his name again as he runs past his fighting comrades. He turns to look back at the man-made dust cloud to see it is now ten meters away. He realizes he will not get to his commander in time and turns to look at the rest of the team. "Men," he calls, "get down!" They all take to the ground as the dust brutally covers the field.

Their ears fill with the sound of shots fired and animal whines. They look around for each other as they try not to fall from the force of the wind. Jesse slowly makes his way to where he last saw Cody. "Cody," he shouts as he looks around. Even with his high-tech visor, he cannot see anything more than a couple of inches from his face.

He goes to take another gaping step when the body of one of the animals walks inches from his body. Jesse falls to his feet as it slowly moves, and he looks up to see yellow-glossed night vision eyes look down on him. He holds his breath as the rider points his shooter at him. He waits for the pain, but instead the gun turns upward and fires a single shot. Jesse's ears ring from the sound, and all he can hear is his own quick-paced breathing. A moment passes before the body of a B2 battle droid lands beside him. The rider and his animal sit for another moment before moving on.

* * *

Jesse cautiously gets to his feet and continues his trek towards his lost commander. He is now weary of where he steps, and he takes it slow as he heads towards what he believes to be the right direction. He calls out for Cody but receives no clear response. He lifts his foot to take another step and trips over the back of one of his squad members. Jesse falls gracelessly on top of the other clone and hears a muffled, "Ompf!" Rolling off his solid armored cushion, he stands up and offers a hand to help his friend.

"Thanks," Blaze says. He grabs his blaster from the ground and turns to Jesse awaiting orders. Jesse pulls him in close so his orders will be heard clearly over the loud winds.

"Blaze, round of the rest of the men and get them out of here," Jesse commands.

"And what about you, sir?"

"I'm going to find Cody. Once I find him, we'll meet up at the rendezvous point. Now, go!"

"Sir!" Blaze calls, reaffirming that he heard his orders. He turns and walks heavily in the opposite direction. Jesse watches as Blaze lifts his forearm to see if he can get ahold of any of the others. Jesse stands dumbfound as he realizes he could have used his com link to get a hold of everyone when he noticed the incoming cloud.

He shakes his head as the thought floats away, and he focuses back on more pressing matters. He realizes he has minimal time to find his commanding officer and get them both out of there. He moves with more speed but just as much caution until he picks up unclear voices dead ahead. "Commander Cody!" he shouts just loud enough to be heard by someone close by. The voices stop, and Jesse slows his movements when he hears no call back from his commander.

Jesse moves at a snails pace and he is just able to make out the blue hue of a hologram positioned at chest level. He looks in the direction the hologram is looking and recognizes the shape of the lead being riding the hooved animal. It his speaking in a low grovely tone that Jesse can barely hear over the harsh winds. He can hear the auto tuned sound of the person in the hologram speaking, but he is unable to make out what is being said. He does, however, hear bits of what the figure responds. " _More. . .anticipated. . .pull back. . .bombs. . ."_  Jesse's eyes widen as the last word rings in his ears, his mission has now reached dire levels. He goes to step back and work around the figure when he catches the end of the transmission. " _Awaiting command. . .Śikariňa."_

Jesse takes another step back and as he picks up the next foot to turn around the figure gets knocked to the ground by an unspotted droid. His holodisc sails through the air and lands on its base. It smoothly slides across the solid ground and lands at Jesse's feet. He snatches it to hack into later, and he pivots and runs.

* * *

General Ack Var glares at his Jedi opponent as he slowly makes his way to his feet. He spits out the excess blood pooling in his mouth and scrapes his tongue against his teeth to get rid of the metallic taste. He feels the strain on his body but refuses to let it affect him. He's a little wobbly as he takes his first step, but he grows sure of himself as he takes many more and launches his body towards Kenobi.

He analyzes in seconds how Kenobi positions his body to take the oncoming attack without taking too much damage himself. The two are seconds from impact when Ack Var is pushed back by an invisible force of power. His body rolls to the near edge of the platform before he successfully comes to a stop. He shakes his head the slightest bit to get rid of the dizziness before he looks back up to gaze upon the newest member of the fight. The other Jedi, Luminara it seems. Knowing he is outmatched, he subtly presses a button on his wrist sleeve and stalls until what living droids come to his aid.

* * *

"It seems you've decided to join me then?" Kenobi asks Luminara with subtle cheekiness. Luminara, ignoring Obi-Wan's comment, goes to give her report as her eyes drift to their foe.

"I destroyed the power core and with it the flight stabilizers. In a matter of minutes, this airship will impact the planet." As she explains, the ground beneath them starts to tilt in a wave-like manner, making it difficult to stand steady. "We need to secure the General and remove ourselves or we will become part of the wreckage." Luminara's voice wavers as she focuses on staying on her feet.

The two move to take action when the hear the opening of the bay doors behind them. Together they turn to see countless droids marching in formation out the wide doors. A deep, guttural laugh flows through the wind and into their ears. Obi-Wan turns skeptically to see Ack-Var raising to his feet. His laugh grows louder as he stands taller.

"Do you really believe," he asks," that you will have time to both defeat my army and capture me before we hit the ground? Even a glorious Jedi such as yourself knows that you do not have enough time." The droids open fire on the two masters and try to surround them. Obi-Wan and Luminara try to deflect as many as they can as well as make their way to the General, but it seems to be an impossible task. Obi-Wan uses to force to strongly push back the wave of droids coming from behind.

"Go!" Luminara commands, and with a nod, he flees to catch Ack-Var. He cuts apart all droids entering his path, and he forges on. His eyes watch intently as Ack-Var takes the last few steps backwards towards the very edge of the ledge. A sardonic smile creeps its way onto Ack-Var's face as he lifts his hands up, palms facing the sky. Obi-Wan, realizing what he is going to do, sprints forwards.

"Until we meet again, General Kenobi," he hears clearly just as the body of his foe drops over the edge. Kenobi is prepared to jump after him only to hear the whirring of a fighter's engine, and Kenobi sees the general in a separatist star fighter lifting higher before shooting far into the sky.

Knowing there is no way to catch the now escaped man, Obi-Wan focuses on getting off the falling base. He looks over the edge to see the ground rapidly approaching. He pivots to look at Luminara and sees her holding her own, however, they need to leave. Now.

Obi-Wan runs to her but does not stop. Instead he grabs his arm and pulls her to the end of the platform. Luminara, who is lost in confusion, tries to find her feet.

"I think we should be going now," Obi-Wan says.

"What?"

"Jump!" Using the force, the two launch as far as they can from the base. They sail quite a distance away and crash into the ground just as the base impacts. They roll for a good distance raising loose dirt into the air. As their bodies roll to a complete stop, they release a series of coughs to expel the dirt from the lungs.

Obi-Wan lifts his head to see Luminara's form covered in patches of red. He looks to the sky as a shadow begins to descend upon their bodies. He catches sight of a large piece of debris heading right towards them. "Move!" he calls and pushes Luminara out of the way. He covers her body with his as more hunks of metal land around them. He holds his position a few moments, making sure everything has settled. He stands and grips Luminara's hand, gently helping her to her feet.

"Well," Luminara starts as she gazes around, "I suppose that could have been worse." Obi-Wan laughs lightly.

"Agreed." The two recognize their success as well as their failure at capturing General Ack-Var. Rather than let it disturb them, they take in the sight before them before turning and heading into the direction of their squadron.

* * *

Jesse walks around the camp his commanding officers set up until they are recovered from their mission. He notices numerous faces he has become accustomed to no longer present. He walks silently to give a moment of peace for his fallen comrades. His fists tighten and unclench. He raises his open palm he feels the heavy weight of the holodisc sitting there as he gazes upon its scratched metal surface. Jesse looks around for his three commanding officers and finds them standing together in discussion. He walks tall towards them and stands a few feet away.

"Sir!" he calls to Cody.

"Jesse." It is not Cody who responds, but Kenobi. Jesse holds up the holodisc for the three to see clearly. "A holodisc?"

"I retrieved it during the battle, sir. It was being used by one of the riders during combat." General Kenobi nodded his head in understanding.

"Yes, Cody was just telling me about them. They appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly, without and trace. He believes they were meant to be here and aid in the defense against the separatists. What do you think?" Jesse's eyes drift towards Cody before focusing back on Kenobi.

"I agree. I came into contact with one, and rather than shoot me, it went after a droid that came up behind me. But, sir, why aid against a fight that is not their own? And if they are our ally, why the secrecy?"

"All good questions, Jesse. And ones we yet to have answers for." Obi-Wan brushes his fingers down his beard in thought.

"Perhaps they wish to maintain secrecy so they cannot be targeted in the future by Separatists," Luminara inputs.

"That is a possibility, but I feel it is not the answer," Obi-Wan responds. "It seems there are certain things we are in the dark about." Obi-Wan starts to turn and head towards the arriving gunships to take them back to space, but Jesse stops him.

"Sir, have you ever heard the name  _Śikariňa_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done. First and foremost, if there are any mistakes, feel free to point them out and I will change them. Now, on to the question; Do you guys want one last chapter that helps put this show in a time frame and keep it true to the original show, or do you want me to skip it? It takes place on Kamino with Tup, Fives, and Anakin, but there is a twist in it. . . would you guys like me to post that chapter or skip it? Leave your answer in a review!
> 
> Hope you guys all enjoyed it! Sorry for such a late posting I hope you guys R&R! :)


	4. Episode 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here! I'm so sorry this took so long, but it has finally been completed. I struggled a lot with this chapter (until Megan forced me to finish), but I hope you enjoy it as much as the first ones. Take note, this is the last chapter that will follow the show's timeline, and this is also the first "episode" not centered on the Jedi and the Republic. Anyway, thank you all so much for the Kudos. Enjoy!

"Commander, we've received intel regarding the 501st."

_"Read it to me."_

"There's been a murder. One of the clones, Tup, killed a Jedi master. Should we investigate?"

_"Yes, but be cautious. Śikariňa out."_

* * *

Anakin frowns heavily as the ship sputters into a landing. Shaak Ti gracefully maintains her balance next to him, a calming presence next to his raging storm of emotions. She looks to him, obviously feeling his distress and her eyes expressing concern, but Anakin turns away, giving her his back, his body language obviously communicating that he was not in the mood to engage in any conversation about emotions or feelings.

He is solely mission focused at this moment.

He had heard Obi-Wan conversing with Yoda that this was not a healthy way for him to cope with the loss of his padawan, that maybe they should force him to train another padawan so they could distract him from his grief. But the old master had just rumbled sagely and voiced his disagreement. They needed to wait for Anakin to heal. But Anakin knew when he looked at the oldest master that you never really healed from that kind of pain and betrayal. Padawans were essentially the children of their masters by the time they were full grown. A child that you essentially raised turning their back on you was a kind of hurt only understood by the people who have experienced it.

Anakin pushes those thoughts away as the doors open and the hellishly windy and rainy conditions of Kamino pushed their way under his cloak, chilling him to the bone immediately and the simple walk from the landing platform to the inside of the clone facility had soaked his robes and made the inside of his boots squelch with moisture at every step. Shaak Ti, although, somehow remains perfectly calm and somewhat drier than her dreary companion. They are greeted by a doctor in all white, the large eyes of the native species of Kamino somehow gave them a docile look, like someone you could trust. Her robes swish soothingly around her feet as she walks.

"Hello, Master Jedi." She bows slightly, her long form and gentle movements making it look somewhat graceful even with her large stature. The Jedi bow back as the native custom dictates, letting the serene feeling of the facility wash over them after the stressful journey here.

"Greetings, Head Director. My companion, Master Anakin Skywalker, and I have come here at the bidding of Master Yoda to investigate the recent clone malfunctions that have been seeming to arise on the battlefield. We have been sent to make sure that the malfunctions are only with specific clones and that the cloning system that we are still using is safe and humane."

The Kaminoan nods before the master has finished speaking. "Yes, we have been experiencing recent clone malfunctions and have started our own investigation to aid in yours, but sadly our results are little and the pace at which we find any evidence is slow and unreliable. We may have to cull this entire batch of clones just to make sure the virus that we believe has infected some will not endanger future masters in battle.

The Jedi nod in understanding. Their dwindling numbers need to be protected at all costs. Jedi are not easily replaceable and children born with the force were getting fewer and fewer in each generation. Shaak Ti is the first to speak. "Please lead the way, we are eager to see whatever evidence you may have gathered and to start our own investigations." The Kaminoan bows and turns on a heel to being leading them down the hallway, all medically white and sterile, looking exactly alike with no differentiating features. It is like a never ending maze and made Anakin anxious as there was no clear escape route.

The masters take in everything in as they walk, looking down with interest at the clone training going on below on one side of the bay windows and on the other side, battle simulations were in session. They are separated between simple games of capture the flag and more practical battle simulations for the more advanced clones in training. After the malfunction in the field, it makes Anakin feel this sense of safety to see such an efficient system.

But there is then something suddenly, a feeling that he can't quite name. Something is off. Anakin looks around but sees nothing that looks amiss. But as his master taught him, a Jedi's eyes are merely cursory, as the Force should be for finally seeing what really lurks beyond physical sight.

* * *

The medical ship hooks on to the landing platform with a hiss and a sudden drop of the doors, revealing clones in medical gear unloading the wounded from a recent battle. Two clones walk off the ship carrying a comrade followed by another set of clones carrying another fallen. They look as if they belong here, inconspicuously flowing with the traffic. The clones and Kaminoans around them do not ask what their business is as they seem to be in a hurry. No one notices as they duck down a hallway leading to the changing rooms.

One oblivious clone is unloading his gear and is confused when he sees the team enter the chamber. The beginning of a sentence forms on his lips before the smallest clone on a gurney suddenly comes alive, flipping into a crouching position before lunging at his unfortunate look-alike, snapping his victim's neck before the clone can even finish his sentence. The attacker gets up slowly from his position on the ground next to his now dead "brother." One of the transporters steps forward, his leadership role clearly established.

He sighs heavily as the shorter clone turns to him. The small one looks to his superior with an unapologetic expression, a reprimand coming to him no doubt. "You didn't have to kill him, Bub. You could have shot him with the amnesiac darts Wrench created last week."

Bub just shrugs, uninterested. "He was going to trigger the alarm and we had limited time to act, Cap. Just doin' my job."

The leader sighs again, pinching the bridge of his nose. He feels a headache coming on already. "Hide the body." He turns to the rest of the team.

"Alright men you all heard the mission debrief from Śikariňa earlier. Blackout and Bub, you are in the air vents, Casper and Kale are boots on the ground, Cut-throat and and I will be recon. You have your target mission objective, men. Get a move on!" As the others head out to their ordered directions, Shadow, the leader, hangs back for a moment. He places his hand up to his ear and clicks on his modified com-link. "We are all on the move, Śikariňa. This covert operation is on the go."

A steady sound of static is his reply until a firm voice overpowers it. _"Glad to hear it. Make sure the droid stays with the escapee. Obtaining that information is of great importance."_

"Of course, general," Shadow replies. He turns to his team and commands,"Get out the droid, and make sure it knows its job." Casper nods and reaches under and into the bottom of the gurney which had previously been covered by false panels. He pulls out a plain grey box and opens into see the unblinking eyes of a medical droid.

"Hello," it says.

"Hey, buddy," Casper responds. "It's time to get to work."

* * *

"Commander, we're in position."

_"Then get a move on. You don't have much time."_

* * *

Anakin knows they are lying. The Kaminoans have had 3 months to conduct investigations and they have nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He feels everything is too fake, too wrong. This facility should be bustling with researchers and biologists who can figure out what is going on, but there is none of that. It is in fact almost too desolate.

Anakin takes a tour of the facility and feels as if he is going to crawl out of his skin. His senses are buzzing and he feels like a live wire. He reaches out and tries to find the source of whatever is causing such discomfort. What he finds is the fading force of a being nearby, and while that is not uncommon, especially given there is a medical facility within the base, it is far too close when the medical rooms are on the other side of the compound. He proceeds to follow the feeling and enters into one of the many dressing rooms. Anakin turns in a full circle, studying the area and finds nothing out of sorts. He turns to leave when he hears small, minuscule sound behind him.

He turns an ear towards the sound and listens for the sound again. Anakin holds his breath calmly and strains his ears for any sound. He hears it again. The noise is like droplets hitting the metallic floor behind him. It could be nothing more than a leak, perhaps, but Anakin hasn't made it this far in his war-filled life on could-be's.

Anakin turns towards the sound and analyzes the area for a second time, and there, on the floor, he finds the beginnings of a dark puddle. Kneeling down gently, he reaches out with his right hand and dips his fingers into mysterious liquid. He raises his hand to his face and takes in the crimson color and rustic smell.

Blood.

He upturns his head to find the source when more drops splash gently against his face and trail down. He closes his eyes and let the thick fluid it run its course as gravity forces it down before opening the again to find the blood's owner.

He notices the stark white ceiling is like any other, with one difference- A panel seems to be bulging out revealing a dark, empty space of shadows. He looks more closely and sees that the ceiling is bulging out slightly at an odd angle, and a small trail of blood drips from the lowest slope. Anakin climbs up onto one of the benches. He pulls at the bulging ceiling panel until it collapses.

There on the ground is the lifeless body of a clone trooper. His neck is bent at an odd looking angle and his eyes are forever open in surprise at whoever had done this too him. The Jedi Knight looks on in brief horror before he moves to code in an intruder alert.

* * *

A little grey droid floats through the halls of the Republic cloning facility. He beeps and whirs like any other droid in the compound, and he wears the medic symbol like any other., but Mio is fairly certain that droids are not supposed to break access panels to get inside a heavily armoured door. He stands in front of one of said doors and tries again— for the fifth time— to have the door slide open.

"Blast it!" the little sentient droid spits. A little red light and a negative buzzer sounds. Mio lets his robotic head bump against the door repeatedly. Honestly, doors should not be this hard to open. It doesn't even have high security for kriff's sake! He lets out a hum of displeasure and slams his head again, and again, and again—

_"Mission status, Mio,"_ Śikariňa commands quietly.

"The key card is unresponsive, commander." She sighs in frustration and the little medical droid briefly contemplates how one action explains the entirety of one's emotions. He's pulled out of his pondering by her command.

_"Plug into the port."_ He scans the side and finally locates it. He plugs in using his own built-in cables and breaks the minor protection on the security system before reporting back.

"I'm in, commander." The port suddenly gives him a hint for the password. "What does 'A. BIRTHDAY' mean to you, commander?" She is quiet for a few moments until she sucks in a breath and let's it out. In a shaky voice she responds, "Enter 00852." The security system seems to be considering accepting this and then a green light chirps a positive sound and a small automated voice from the panel says, "Welcome, Master Skywalker."

The door clicks open and Mio enters before continuing on. He comes into a medical area and flips down his visor. "Commander, I'm in the medical chamber, but no one is here." He hears her growl into the mic.

_"Where the crink is Fives!"_

_"Commander,"_ Shadow calls soothingly yet firm, _"we will find him. We haven't failed yet, have we?"_ Though he is a mere droid, Mio has no problem expressing his gratitude to Shadow for calming down his commanding officer. Shadow replies knowing full well their commander can hear, _"It's a gift."_ Focusing back on the mission, Mio continues his report. "The clone's whereabouts are unknown."

Mio continues to study the room when he takes note of two clear slides filled with an unknown tissue sample. He picks them up and looks inside and it seems to be some sort of medical tumor that had been previously removed, perhaps from a clone. He notices that one seems perfectly intact with a rather bright vibrant red color while the other one seems to be broken, or combusted, as if it had been defective. Not knowing why, he takes pictures of them as if the were important in some way. "Commander, I found something rather interesting."

He goes to further explain his findings when he is interrupted by a fellow teammate. _"This is Casper, I have eyes on the objective. He is boarding a ship with the Jedi."_

Shadow, the leader of said operation answers back. _"Can you acquire the location the ship is headed to?"_

_"Of course."_ No further response is given for a few precious minutes. _"I have the information, sir."_

_"And?"_

_"And you're really not going to like it. They're heading towards Coruscant, sir. It seems our target is going to have a chat with the Chancellor."_ Mio hears the irritation in Shadow's voice as clear as day.

_"Did you get that, Śikariňa?"_

_"Loud and clear. Gather the rest of the team and meet back on the ship. I'll be waiting."_ Mio, understanding the change in objective, peeks his head outside the door, and upon seeing the hallways empty, rushes back to the meeting point and awaits the rest of the C.O. team.

* * *

She doesn't believe it to be dramatically quiet, but it is still. And wet. But honestly, could she expect any more from a planet like Kamino? A quiet sigh escapes her lips, and she shifts to pull one knee to her chest. The outer hull of the ship is slick with rain and soaks through her bindings, but she refuses move.

Instead she focuses on the incoming storm dead ahead. The clouds are dark and ominous, and with them comes a feeling of foreboding. She can see lightning striking the water and the sinking feeling in her gut grows. Something about this darkness is unnatural. Her brow furrows as she tries to focus on it.

"Are you okay?" She startles as the voice of her second-in-command surrounds her. His deep baritone voice soothes her and she welcomes the warmth his hand brings when placed upon her shoulder.

"No." Though she would rather lie, she can never do so, at least not to him. His hand tightens on her shoulder before falling away.

"Don't worry, we'll save him. We'll save Fives." She shakes her head in disagreement.

"I don't think we will. It's just a feeling but. . ." She sighs and shakes her head again. "Never mind."

"But what? You've never had such little faith in our success the sudden change? Are you trying to save yourself from the pain if we fail?" He meant no disrespect in his questioning, but her head whips around in fury, and her blues eyes pin her companion in place with the fierceness of their glare.

"Ace, I've lost hundreds of men in battle, and _none_ was easier than the last. The pain will never lessen with each death."

"Then what is it?" She turns back to the storm moving and studies the darkness the lurks behind the clouds' shade.

"Nothing. Like I said it's just a feeling." She gets up and starts towards the opened hatch. "Let's go," she commands, "the men are waiting." She pushes her shoulders back and stands tall. It won't pay for the rest of her men to see her so low. She needs to be strong against the oncoming storm.

* * *

_"Shadow, what's your position?"_

"We're on route, commander. ETA to Coruscant, ten minutes."

_"Glad to hear it. Śikariňa out."_

* * *

"Commander, I've managed to tail the target, but his current course of action is still unknown. Should I continue to follow?" Mio floats above the dusty ground of the lower levels of Coruscant fiddling with his metallic fingers. He is intelligent enough to hide his body behind a group of drunk individuals, and only cares to peek his head out every few seconds to make sure not to lose his target.

_"Yes, but be cautious. You are not the only one following him,"_ Śikariňa warns.

"Are making a reference to the Master Jedi also following the target?"

_"Yes. He is incredibly focused when it comes to being aware of his surroundings."_

"Are you speaking from experience, commander?" Mio asks innocently as he moves to trail the unsuspecting clone.

_"If I am, it doesn't matter. My answer is irrelevant to the task at hand. Maintain focus on the target."_

"Of course, commander." The droid nods as if his commander can see it and picks up his place to be closer to the clone. He notices that the clone's movement are sure and familiar as if this area is well known to him. The clone crosses the alley and heads for a well lit building. "Commander, it seems our target is feeling like a drink. Should I send Shadow to retrieve him?"

_"Relay the signal, but stay close by. Shadow will need you to be his eyes and ears."_

"Yes, commander." The small droid turns and waves towards the outline of a figure hanging in the shadows. Shadow walks calmly to the techno medical droid. "The commander suggests you head inside. I will be your eyes and ears so nothing may occur while you cannot be reached. It is important you have no form of communication as the target might become suspicious. Would you like me to accompany you inside?"

"No. Just enter a few minutes after I do, and don't be seen." Shadow casually walks to the entrance and stares into a face much like his own. "Am I in?" he asks the bouncer. A nod is his reply and he ducks into the dark entrance.

* * *

The strobe lights reflect brightly off of every shiny surface in the club, and there are _a lot_ of them. It's almost blinding. Shadow raises a hand to shield his eyes from the lights and find his target, ARC Trooper Fives. He suspects the runaway clone has some form of disguise to hide his appearance.

He glances around the crowd, but nothing stands out aside from the techno medical droid entering the establishment. Not wanting to seem suspicious, Shadow moves to the bar and orders himself a drink. He turns to look over the crowd for a second time as he waits for his order to be placed in front of him. He hears the clank of the glass landing on the bar.

"Thanks," he nods before he knocks the drink back and casually moves to the edge of the dance floor. He is by no means a dancer, but he needs to find a good vantage point. It's as he's walking through the middle of the glowing floor that he is bumped into by a nervous looking clone with a grey hat upon his head. Shadow stares at the figure and nearly scoffs at the ease of it all. Rather than having to hunt for his target, his target appears to be rather keen on being found.

"Excuse me," Fives mutters.

"Ah, no worries, brother!" Shadow plasters a wide smile is on his face and attempts to appear happy, though he feels anything but. Fives moves around him and Shadow's smile falls. He watches the trooper enter in bathroom before following himself. As he nears the doors, Shadow can't help but hear the end of the conversation.

_"-highest levels are involved in the conspiracy!"_

Shadow's eyes narrow at the words. _What conspiracy?_ He leans in closer, but the conversation is coming to a close.

_"I have to talk to General Skywalker and Captain Rex, alone."_ Shadow cannot make out the response of Fives' companion as the music changes and grows louder than before. He only hears random words, but they are enough to paint a picture. _". . .coordinates. . . General. . .meets. . ."_

He steps away from the door as the first clone leaves. He is prepared to turn and enter the bathroom when the music cuts out. He turns to investigate the occurrence and witnesses his little droid distracting a squadron of clones who, no doubt, share a common target with him.

"Pardon me . . ." He hears Mio start and uses the bided time to swiftly enter the room. As the door moves shut, Shadow bumps directly into Fives. Fives moves to walk around him when Shadow grabs his wrist and tugs him towards the vents.

"Trust me, _brother,_ you do not want to go that way." He opens the vent and forces Fives inside. "It's time for us to disappear." He enters the vent behind Fives and closes the hatch just as the squadron of troops storms the stalls.

* * *

Fives is the first to exit the vile ventilation shaft, and grabs the wall for support as he bends and releases haggard coughs in an attempt to clear his senses of the wretched smell. He looks around the alleyway as his "ally," for lack of a better word, follows him out. After his coughing subsides he turns to the stranger who saved his life. "Who are you?"

"A middleman of sorts," Shadow casually shrugs. Fives looks at him skeptically.

"A middleman? For who?"

"For someone who believes you, and that's all you need to know."

"They 'believe me?' No," Fives denies, shaking his head, "no one believes me."

"Well, my commander does. We know about the conspiracy, and we know the Republic is after you because of the knowledge you have." Fives crosses his arms and steps away.

"And just how do you know this?" Shadow shrugs and leans his body against the alley wall as a slight smirk creeps onto his face.

"You've become a very popular topic of interest, and an old friend of yours caught wind of the information."

"This 'old friend,'" he quotes, "they're your commander?"

"That's right. Ever since she heard, my commander has been looking out for you. We've had eyes on you since the incident with Tup."

"And just how do you know about that? That information is classified," Fives growls. Shadow, however, is unimpressed.

"Like I said, you're story's a catch among the Underground." Shadow casually glances past Fives' head and notices Mio afloat in the distance. Mio motions for them to get a move on before setting off towards the meeting point. Shadow sighs and pushes himself into an upright position. "Look, we need to get a move on. I'm going to take you somewhere safe." Fives shakes his head and steps out of range of attack.

"No. I need to speak to General Skywalker." A sound of frustration escapes Shadow's throat at the naïveté of his doppelganger. Shadow is the type who enjoys talking people in circles and laughing at their expense, but he's done playing games, and he is done with the idiotic belief Fives' holds that someone of the Republic will believe him. Only a fool would truly believe in the "good-heartedness" of the Republic, and Shadow sneers at the thought of anyone being so ignorant, especially a fellow clone.

"Are you stupid?" he demands of Fives. "Do you honestly think staying here is the best course of action when you are a fugitive?" Shadow reaches out and grabs Fives by the arm. "I am done playing this childish game of make believe; you are coming with me."

Fives looks down at the arm grabbing him tightly and lifts his hand to remove is when he notices a strange inky symbol on the inside portion of Shadow's wrist. His cloning number is scratched out, and above it is a tattoo inked in black. The tattoo defines a distinct pair of small hands dividing two cities. It is a tattoo Fives has seen before. He tears his arm away and moves out of reaching distance.

"You're no brother! You're a deserter! A traitor!" Fives shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He rakes his hands over his head and clenches fistfuls of his short hair in frustration. "I need to go," he whispers to himself, "I have to speak to General Skywalker." Before Shadow can respond, Fives turns and runs down the alley.

"Damn it." He watched Fives leaves and moves to follow when he is joined by Mio.

"We need to go," Mio claims. "The commander has found where Fives intends to meet the General and his Captain." Shadow processes the information before following his small droid.

* * *

_"Shadow, what's the status with Fives?"_

"I'm working on it," he grumbles.

* * *

Shadow runs quickly and silently in the direction of the warehouses. His path is shrouded in darkness and empty of any life form besides his own and that of Mio. For the first time since coming to Coruscant he feels immersed in his element. After all, his name _is_ Shadow, and what better place to find him in a place surrounded by darkness? However, that being said, he distaste for the area far outweighs that of enjoyment of poor lighting. A grimace falls over his face as he runs through a puddle of something that is far too dense to be water. For what feel like the hundredth time he silently curses his lack of communication to call for a drop off.

Mio eyes shine with the lowest light built into his small robotic body, but they're still bright enough to poorly light a path for Shadow to trace. He keeps his whirring to a minimum. He hovers virtually on top of Shadow and attempts to refrain from bumping into his mission buddy. It's nothing he hasn't done before, and the ducking and sneaking has essentially become his second nature. He quietly murmurs the directions they need to take to follow the tracker placed on their target.

Together the two make their way through a narrow alley and into an open area. He cuts across several openings into different warehouses. "501, 501, 501," Shadow mutters, searching for the correct storage facility. He cuts in between two buildings and ends up in the high 400s. He moves to dash again but throws his body back into the shadows when several clone shock troopers rush past. He watches as they head in the same direction he was headed.

"Do you think they are searching for ARC trooper Fives?" Mio asks lowly.

"Undoubtedly," Shadow answers. He motions forward and says, "Come on. We need to find a shortcut." He moves again and his loyal robot follows. Turn after turn they make their way. Halfway to his destination Shadow hears the red-bearing clones issuing commands as he passes by unnoticed.

With a final sprint he finds the warehouse he was searching for. Knowing he cannot simply waltz through the front door, he circles around the building to find a secondary access point. Mio lightly grips Shadows shoulder with his small hands and motions further ahead. "There," he points. "There are crates up ahead. If you can climb them, you can access the window of the second level." Shadow nods his understanding and runs. He jumps, launching his body in the air, and climbs up the first crate. He jumps again and grips the top of the second crate. The process continues as he makes his way up. When he reaches the top he drags his body through the small opening of the broken glass and lands on the floor of a balcony overlooking the main level. Easily he climbs to his feet and moves forward.

Shadow makes his way to the railing to find Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his first-in-command Rex trapped. He listens as Fives tries to explain himself; he watches as Skywalker and Rex discredit Fives; he witnesses Fives break and loose himself as his trusted commander refuses to believe him; he remains unmoving as a flash of light moves through the air and pierces Fives' chest plate.

He stares down as Fives falls in seemingly slow motion. The sound of his body hitting the floor fills Shadow's ears twice as loud as the sound of the bullet did. He hears the cry of the fallen clone's names from none other than the ones who refused to believe him. Mio floats around his head and wrings his hand as if worry was an emotion he could experience.

"Sir, I am a techno medical droid. I am well equipped with the knowledge to save him. Shall I proceed and do so?" He inches forward and begins his dissent, but Shadow calls out, "No. There's nothing we can do for him. He made his choice."

"But, Shadow—" Mio tries again.

"My answer is no." He turns and retraces his steps back to the window. "Come. We need to report to Śikariňa." Without looking back, he jumps from the window and heads out to his extraction point.

* * *

Shadow walks calmly to the edge of the platform where his ride awaits. He steps onto the lowered hatch opening and looks into the illuminated eyes of his commander. Without saying a word, they both make their way to front of the ship. The back opening raises and they take off.

* * *

"Commander?"

_"Yes?"_

"I'm sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's officially done! Please, don't forget to review. Meg and I love anything you have to say or being shown any mistakes we may have made. Keep an eye out for the next chapter. Message you soon! -AJ


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